There is something of a Russian feel to this programme
by the London pianist of Greek parentage, Katerina Assimis. The Russian
tint is in the repertoire, obviously, but more in the Golden Age of
Russian pianism contour of the disc. With the exception of the Messiaen
this is the kind of recital the titans of the Moscow School would have
performed in the 1920s and 30s.
There’s not much bloom around the sound – no comforting
halo – and this can accentuate a tendency to clangorous playing especially
in the climaxes. It also tends to flatten out Assimis’s dynamics to
detrimental effect. Clarity is the hallmark of her playing. This can
be impressive in the Messiaen where her structural decision-making is
alert and intelligent. In the two Rachmaninov Preludes, one each from
Op 23 and 32, comparison with Peter Katin, say, in Op 32/5 shows that
at a somewhat faster tempo – 2’57 to Assimis’s 3’23 – he evinces a rather
greater sense of linear narrative and his inflexions tend to keep the
line moving with the greater compulsion. In the challenge of the Tempest
Sonata she is again clear and lucid in her approach. In some senses
this is anti-Schnabelian playing – it’s slower with a shallow bass line,
opening with a profound sense of musical strain and a holding back,
rhythmically. Some may miss Schnabel’s frankness, his impetuous freshness
but if this seems too Olympian a comparison – let’s never forget that
EMI first considered Rachmaninov for recording the 32 Sonatas; they
got Schnabel because he was cheaper – then it’s also true that an entirely
different aesthetic is involved. In the slow movement, for instance,
Assimis uses a lot of pedal and heavy staccato – she doesn’t activate
the treble run legato but treats each note in isolation. In the Allegretto
finale she sustains the tempo well – far more difficult to sustain this
slower tempo than a simple allegro and there is none of Schnabel’s stabbing
bass notes and none of the rise and fall of his rubato. In the concluding
Scriabin Sonata her eyes are also correspondingly dry. It’s not an unfeeling
performance but it is one of reserved tonal contrasts.
Jonathan Woolf
Katerina Assimis, piano