MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
Crotchet


Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Piano Sonata in B flat major D960 (1828) [39:59]
Muzio CLEMENTI (1752-1832)
Sonata in B minor Op.40, no.2 (1801) [15:42]
Lazar Berman (piano)
rec. live, Milan, 12 November 1972
INSTITUTO DISCOGRAFICO ITALIANO IDIS6539 [55:41]
Experience Classicsonline


It was with Liszt that the pianist Lazar Berman was most associated, but as Danilo Prefumo remarks in his notes for this release, he was not entirely happy with being considered ‘merely a Liszt interpreter’. The works on this re-mastered recording from a recital in Milan in 1972 are indeed not pieces which would be the first choice of a pianist keen on showing just technical fireworks, and show Berman as equal to any of his peers in gazing beyond and into one of Schubert’s most extended poetic statements.

Nothing is said about the concert from which this recording was made, which is a shame. I’m not sure if it was any kind of special occasion, but Berman certainly made it one through his playing. Thinking of Richter and Afanassiev, Russian pianists can have an eccentric and/or special way with Schubert, but Berman’s interpretation of the D960 Sonata is in fact reasonably ‘straight’ – expressive rather than excessive. If I were to compare this recording to a reasonably familiar modern recording then I suppose that of Alfred Brendel would be a fairly close parallel, though to those for whom Brendel’s Schubert is less satisfying I wouldn’t want to do Berman any disservice. What I mean is that Berman largely seeks the expressive intimacy through the inner qualities in the music, rather than imposing extra-musical features to ‘make a point’. His tempi are in no way extreme. The long melodies of the first movement sing through with some sensitive rubato moulding of the shapes and undulations in the music, and the sense of darkness and light is a strong feature throughout. The Sostenuto element in that incredible second movement seems to grow in power as the music progresses, as after a less imposing exposition the theme moves steadily into a darker and more truly funereal place, and even the major modulations in the middle are wreath-strewn and grief ridden. The delicacy of the third movement is a joy, but the drama in the final Allegro is tremendous, with Berman relishing the walking bas lines and, despite some slips, the more pianistic writing through the ff climaxes. The tumult toward the end of the movement gives the impression than Berman is going more and more quickly, but this is kept in check just enough to prevent everything falling apart, and the excitement in the performance is that to which the audience respond with gusto.

Those of us who think of Muzio Clementi as a composer of light, post-Classical or pre-Romantic sonatas may have their preconceptions bruised and re-arranged by Berman’s performance of the Sonata in B minor Op.40, no.2. Beethoven’s high regard for Clementi’s compositions is a matter of record, but with the gruff splendour which Berman gives us from this sonata shows in no uncertain terms from where this creative relationship springs. The music has something of Domenico Scarlatti’s wheeling rondo gestures in its dramatic Allegro con fuoco, but in turbo form – the modern piano turning what would have been fearsome enough on a fortepiano into something genuinely challenging even for today’s listeners. Both movements of this sonata begin with delicately expressive introductions, and then burst into a froth of remarkable and often furious activity, which Berman is again more than happy to get his teeth and agile fingers into. There is remarkable passagework and expressive layering aplenty here, and piano buffs and students may well be transported into some new worlds in this live recording.

As a live concert there is of course the odd contribution from the audience, but nothing too dramatic while the playing is ongoing. There are also one on two minor slips and inaccuracies from Berman, but the force of the musical arguments take one beyond such trivia with ease. My compliments go to Danilo Prefumo for sensitive re-mastering. The recording is decent mono, and good enough to start with, with some rumble but only a few dips in level and some gentle distortion when Berman’s power takes the tape by surprise. This CD gives us as much of the colour and variety in Berman’s playing as must be available on the original tape, and while hiss may have been toned down to a minimum there is no sense of the treble being restricted. While one’s perception might be that this is more of a collector’s item for piano buffs, this disc is however recommendable at every level of musical creativity, and is certainly of historical interest. The label announces that the recording has been released as a ‘Unique authorized edition with the consensus of the Berman Family’, and I for one am grateful that we now have this fascinating sonic document as part of the catalogue.

Dominy Clements

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.