Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Scherzo No 1 in B minor, Op 20 [8:53]
Scherzo No 2 in B-flat minor, Op 31 [9:47]
Scherzo No 3 in C-sharp minor, Op 39 [7:20]
Scherzo No 4 in E major, Op 54 [10:44]
Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21 [31:39]
Seong-Jin Cho (piano)
London Symphony Orchestra/Gianandrea Noseda
rec. London, LSO St Luke’s, April 2021 (concerto); Hamburg, Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, March 2021 (scherzos)
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4860435 [68:30]
In 2015 pianist Seong-Jin Cho, aged only twenty-one, took the world by storm when he clinched First Prize at the Warsaw International Chopin Competition. He was the first South Korean pianist to do so. The jurors were taken not only by his astonishing technical command, but also by his artistic maturity. One member, the 1970 winner Garrick Ohlsson, declared him a “remarkable, complete young artist”. Cho signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon a year later, and his first album with the label was Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda coupled with the four Ballades. He went on to record albums dedicated to Debussy, Mozart and one titled The Wanderer, featuring works by Schubert, Berg and Liszt, each of which I had the pleasure of reviewing (Debussy ~ Mozart ~ Wanderer). He now considered the time ready to set down his interpretations of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 2 and the four Scherzi.
Although designated as No 2, the Piano Concerto in F minor, Op 21, was the first to be composed. Chopin penned it in 1829 at the age of nineteen, and premiered it himself a year later on 17 March 1830 in Warsaw. From the outset, I think it’s worth pointing out that the composer has often been criticized for his weak orchestration, and in many recordings I’ve heard the orchestra is relegated to the back of the sound picture and not afforded the importance and prominence it is due. In this new recording, the engineers have done a sterling job in achieving an almost perfect balance between soloist and players, where the woodwinds register clearly and the brass has a satisfying presence. From the very start, Cho has an impressive grasp of architecture and structure. The opening movement is bold and dramatic yet yields to the poetic moments in the second subject. The central Larghetto is spellbinding, soused in fluid pearl-like filigree and awash with keyboard colour. Is it a declaration of love for the Polish soprano Konstancja Gladkowska, whom he met whilst studying at the Warsaw School of Music? Into the finale, the composer poured some of his most dazzling pianistic writing in the style of a mazurka. Cho delivers a flourish of pyrotechnic display.
The four Scherzos encompass an extraordinary expressive range, and present audacious technical demands on the pianist in addition to many interpretive challenges. They brim over with drama, turbulence and Romantic fervor. Cho’s technical brilliance and profound musicality are the perfect match. The anguished pain of the first chord of the B minor Scherzo delivers a potent impact, and the turmoil of the outer sections contrasts vividly with the soothing central molto più lento, a quote from the old Polish Christmas song, Lulajże Jezuniu. Intense drama is also a feature of the Third Scherzo, every bit as ear-grabbing as Martha Argerich’s recording. Again the contrast with the gossamer figurations of the central sections is startling. In the final Scherzo the sun comes out, and the lyrical melody in the middle sounds almost operatic in style.
Everything about this recording ticks the right boxes for me, and it’s certainly a disc I’ll be returning to often. I’ve certainly earmarked it for one of my Recordings of the Year.
Stephen Greenbank
Previous review: Colin Chow
