English Piano Sonatas Binns BMS434-435CD [BBr]: Classical CD Reviews

I got to know the Bax 1^st and 4^th Sonatas from the recording by Joyce Hatto (yes, we believe that these performances really are her) on the Revolution label (RCF 010, coupled with Toccata and Water Music) which stunned me. I subsequently bought the Lyrita monos of Iris Loveridge playing the complete Bax piano music (now available on 3 CDs LYRITA REAM.3113) which were a revelation. Over the years we’ve had further recordings and broadcasts and we’ve had a real chance to get to know these works, but they still aren’t repertoire pieces for any pianist.

The Ireland and Bridge Sonatas haven’t gone into any pianists’ repertoires either. In the case of the Ireland it’s hard to see why this should be for it is a very approachable work. It’s had a handful of recordings and is well thought of, it’s almost always spoken of in hushed voices - I particularly enjoy the John Lenehan recording (Naxos 8.570461). Likewise the Bridge, which is a difficult piece of work but it, too, has received a few recordings – I have always admired the one by Peter Wallfisch on a 2 LP set of Bridge’s songs and piano music (Pearl SHE 513/514).

So it’s good to be able to welcome this new survey of Bax’s Sonatas, as well as the other works, for it’s time we had another set and new performances of the Ireland and Bridge will always be welcomed.

Malcolm Binns is a fine pianist. He has intelligence and he understands what this music does, he also has the technique necessary to play the pieces - most of them are fiendishly difficult - but he can also scale down his technique when playing a lighter work, such as the 4^th Sonata. Binns seems happier with the more reflective, intellectual music, therefore his 1^st Bax Sonata is too low key for me. I much prefer more out and out virtuosity and a feeling of throwing caution to the wind. The final pealing of bells should have a Rachmaninovian splendour as the sound rings out over Red Square. Here, it’s all well and good but it’s just a bit too polite and village green rather than St Basil’s Cathedral. And here’s my main complaint about the performances of the first two Sonatas - good though they are, they are a little bit too cautious. There isn’t the feel of wild abandon which is so essential to a lot of Bax’s music – after all, he did describe himself as a “brazen romantic”. I have the feeling that every note has been carefully thought about, and put in its context before it was played, but the overall picture isn’t there.

Binns is much happier in the Ireland Sonata, and he delivers some very exciting and well thought out playing. He obviously has a sense of the line of the music and where the argument is headed. This isn’t a work which one will scream and shout about – indeed that is true of most of Ireland’s music. He was a fastidious craftsman and thus most of his output satisfies, but never makes you want to jump up and down enthusiastically; it simply isn’t that kind of experience. Binns knows this and thus his performance is totally in keeping with the style and feel of the music. This is great playing and a fine performance.

The second CD starts with Frank Bridge’s turbulent and troubled Sonata. This is a nervy, edgy performance, greatly understated, which makes the climaxes all the more telling, and the alienation of the piece all the more revealing. Dedicated to the memory of Ernest Bristow Farrar, a young British composer killed in the first war, Bridge, an ardent pacifist, threw all his deep hatred for bloodshed in general and war in particular, into this work and produced something which wasn’t understood at the time, and even now is misunderstood by most people. Fortunately Binns understands it and delivers a towering performance of searing intensity, with a firm sense of the logic which underlies the whole composition. Bravo for this.

Bax’s 3^rd Sonata is much easier to listen to, but I doubt that it’s much easier to play. A long, brooding allegro moderato takes its time to unravel its argument and Binns takes his time and lets the information come out when it wants to, in its own good time. The music becomes simpler as the Sonata progresses and Binns handles the winding down very well indeed, keeping the shape of the music always at the front of his mind. The 4^th Sonata is, ostensibly, a lighter work than its companions but I would question that because the music is just as complicated and questing as anything heard before this. Perhaps it’s the short time-scale that makes people think it is easier and lighter. Binns seems determined to prove that this is a bigger work than we imagined and his interpretations of the first two movements is masterly, the ebb and flow of the music being displayed clearly before us. The finale, in contrast, sets off like a rocket and humour is never far from the surface, no matter how complicated Bax’s textures become.

Despite my misgivings concerning the performances of the first two Bax Sonatas these two CDs are essential listening for the performances are first rate and are very intelligently thought out. The sound is very good and the notes just what you need.

This is music which does not give up its secrets quickly and thus for repeated hearings you need insight of this excellence.

Bob Briggs

see also reviews by Colin Scott Sutherland and Hubert Culot