This is a valuable
and enterprising release, featuring
a seemingly obvious coupling for the
first time on CD. The Liszt ‘B minor’
is no stranger to the catalogue, but
the rarer Reubke Sonata has also been
lucky to have received some fine recordings
in recent years, notably those by Till
Fellner and Jeremy Filsell, the latter
coupled with the Organ Sonata on the
94th Psalm. To be able to
listen to two such fine performances
side by side by a player who obviously
possesses a strong affinity with this
style lends this release a compelling
authority.
Reubke is one of the
might-have-beens of nineteenth century
music, tragically dying at the age of
twenty four. It seems all the more miraculous
then that he managed to write two such
important and substantial pieces. The
Organ Sonata is one of the staples of
the repertoire, and is arguably a more
successful work than his teacher Liszt’s
Fantasia and Fugue on "Ad nos, ad
salutarem undam" on which it is
based. It has a thematic unity and economy
of invention that is lacking in sections
of the Piano Sonata, even taking into
consideration the different resources.
Perhaps he would have revised it if
he had lived longer, a luxury Liszt
was granted during his long life. Yet
in such a sympathetic recording as this,
its mixture of youthful exuberance and
virtuosity more than make up for any
structural question marks.
Hewitt’s grasp of the
narrative aspects of Liszt’s Sonata
is strong, as is his ability to lend
a sense of inevitability to each section.
As I mentioned in the first paragraph,
the number of recordings of this piece
is bewildering, ranging from the devil-may-care
Argerich to the more cerebral Brendel.
Hewitt seems to fall into the latter
camp, being more intent to focus on
the purely musical aspects of the score
than in showing off his considerable
technique. In his quest to achieve a
unified interpretation - perhaps highlighted
by providing just one CD track for each
piece - I sometimes felt he under-emphasised
the climactic moments, particularly
in the slow movement build-up, but its
fluency and drive are impressive on
any level.
For me this release
is particularly valuable for the Reubke
Sonata: its importance in the repertoire
is not fully appreciated and such a
recording as this will win it many new
converts. The CD notes are informative
and detailed and the recording is clean
and truthful.
Robert Costin
Anthony Hewitt (piano) 
