A CD containing Bruckner’s
music for piano may come as something
of a surprise, since you either need
to know a lot about Bruckner, or conversely
very little, to expect such a thing.
Yet here it is, and very interesting
it is too. Fumiko Shiraga plays very
well, and her performances can be described
as dedicated and thoroughly prepared.
In addition the BIS recorded sound is
as good as we have come to expect from
this reliable company: full toned and
atmospheric, with due attention to detail.
What is just a little
disappointing, however, is the documentation,
which after all is an important matter
when it comes to uncovering little known
music. Anyone picking up the CD in a
shop and glancing at its contents would
think that all the music was piano music
by Bruckner. Alas it is not. Some half
of the programme (nearly 27 minutes
out of 65) is an arrangement by another
hand of the slow movement from Bruckner’s
Seventh Symphony. That ‘other hand’
was Cyrille Hynais, a member of the
circle that also contained the Schalk
brothers and Ferdinand Löwe. This
information is only contained within
the insert notes; it is neither in the
listings on the outside of the case,
nor in the booklet. An error of judgement,
surely.
As far as it goes,
the arrangement is interesting. The
Adagio of the Seventh Symphony is among
Bruckner’s greatest achievements, but
it is orchestral music that demands
a very particular and special sonority,
even a very particular acoustic. And
the sound of the piano is not that of
the orchestra, nor does Bruckner’s orchestral
music interchange with his orchestral
music after the manner of Ravel. True,
the Hynais version takes no liberties
in the way that the Schalk four-hand
version of the same music does; but
it is not piano music by Bruckner and
the disc details lead the unwary into
thinking that it is.
The remaining items
are a different matter in every respect.
To begin with, they are by Bruckner.
However, they are early rather than
mature Bruckner, and in some cases very
early Bruckner, sketched when the composer
was in his mid-twenties. Of course it
is always fascinating to encounter the
apprentice compositions and other creative
byways of great composers (has there
been a greater symphonist than Bruckner?),
and for that reason the music is worth
hearing.
None of the piano pieces
can be described a s masterpiece, however.
Bruckner did not have the feel for the
piano of a Chopin or a Liszt, and his
textures rarely have the pianistic imagination
to generate the utmost interest and
sophistication. There are some sure
rhythmic trends, however, and the dance-element
that forms such an important part of
the composer’s stylistic personality
is present even in the earliest pieces
collected here, such as the Lancier-Quadrille.
Then there are the
reflective pieces: Stille Betrachtung
an einem Herbstabend (Quiet Contemplation
on an Autumn Evening) and Erinnerung
(Reminiscence). The influence of Mendelssohn
is palpable, but the development of
the material, particularly the quasi-orchestral
build-up in Erinnerung, is probably
the most idiomatic music among all these
pieces.
While this disc is
hardly central to the repertory, it
does offer some fascinating insights
into the lesser known byways and the
artistic development of this remarkable
composer.
Terry Barfoot
Fumiko Shiraga (piano) 
