American pianist Garrick
Ohlsson came to fame in 1970 winning
the Chopin International Piano Competition.
Formerly a student of the late great
Claudio Arrau, he has been regarded
as a leading exponent of the music of
Chopin, although MusicWeb reviewers
have been pretty reserved in their appreciation.
Ohlsson has now come to the works of
Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well
as the Romantic repertoire. This release
coincides with the pianist's Complete
Beethoven Sonata cycles at the Tanglewood
and Ravinia Festivals in the summer
of 2006. They appear to have been well
received performances but perhaps Bridge
would have been wise to record Ohlsson
live like Craig Sheppard in his acclaimed
live cycle. The sonatas here seem
to lack "life" and are studio-bound.
It is also unwise with such competition
to have a single full price disc although
it’s probably a good idea if single
discs are to be issued to have them
from different periods as is the case
here.
Although Beethoven
had written piano works prior to 1795
the three sonatas were the first to
be given opus numbers; following the
masterful Op. 1 piano trios. The Op.
2, No. 2 Sonata was dedicated to Beethoven’s
teacher, Joseph Haydn, and was composed
in 1795-96. Though it is a relatively
early work, Beethoven was 26 at the
time and at that age Mozart was in full
flight and Schubert had only five years
left. Whilst owing a debt to Haydn,
whose piano works are scandalously underrated,
this work has many of the hallmarks
of the mature Beethoven; After an undemonstrative
beginning to the Allegro I was
drawn into the performance. The highlights
here are a tender but never flaccid
Largo and a splendidly invigorated
scherzo. The last movement is
an especial favourite and here the Rondo
grazioso is beautifully played.
It’s certainly good in its own terms
but turning to Arrau (Philips 462358
2) we are in a different world and the
forty-year-old recording is brighter
than the dull sound encountered on Ohlsson's
disc. Louis Lortie on Chandos CHAN 9212
of all three Op. 2s produced an excellent
performance and a youthful sparkle which
eludes Ohlsson.
The Op. 81a Sonata
("Les Adieux") has been used
to close his recitals and is clearly
close to his heart. It receives a very
steady performance without self-consciousness
or being overly self-regarding. Beethoven
introduces a terrific sense of unforced
fun in the final movement but I’m not
sure Ohlsson fully realizes this. To
be frank I turned to budget price and
found Jeno Jando on Naxos 8.550054
preferable by some distance. The
problem throughout is that there is
a lack of architectural structure and
different colours. It’s all either very
quiet or very loud and the sound doesn’t
help. I’m not a pianist but there seems
to be a lack of flow in Ohlsson’s playing;
fine technique but no "inner spirit".
The C minor Sonata,
Op.111 was Beethoven’s last piano sonata
and the finest performances are real
"seat of the pants" renditions;
not quite so here - fine playing but
missing to my ears that "part other
pianists cannot reach". It’s certainly
there in Stephen Kovacevich’s earlier
incomplete set
Philips 4756319. As for the finale,
Ohlsson at over twenty minutes almost
grinds to a halt. Kovacevich takes only
17 minutes in his older recording and
just about 18:00 on EMI Classics and
the pulse is maintained. I really didn’t
take to Ohlsson’s performance and felt
it stilted and two-dimensional. At one
stage Beethoven seems almost to be in
a "jazz" mood and the rhythm
needs to invoke dance; I didn’t feel
it here.
So for me a very disappointing
disc and at full price a non-starter
unless you are a fan of this musician.
There are so many great cycles recently
completed; Kovacevich on EMI Classics
56148, Sheppard and ones such as Schiff
and Lewis currently underway. Sadly
this disc falls into the "not needed
on the voyage" category.
David R Dunsmore
Sadly this disc falls into the "not
needed on the voyage" category.
... see Full Review
for
details
Garrick Ohlsson (piano) 
