The latest releases reviewed.
BEETHOVEN: WALDSTEIN, LES ADIEUX, AND MOONLIGHT PIANO SONATAS; SONATA IN A FLAT OP 110 Nelson Freire (piano) Decca 475 8155 ***
The Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire, much admired by Martha Argerich, is now, in his early 60s, experiencing a renaissance in the recording studio with a major label. He generates much higher temperatures in Beethoven than Hewitt. He's more faithful in representing the fiery and passionate in the composer's temperament. He thinks in longer paragraphs and the flow of musical thought (as opposed to notes) is better sustained. The nature of his urgency shows him to be more of a romantic in spirit, and there's a naturalness of expression here, which can make Hewitt sound almost stilted by comparison. There's not, however, quite the poise or the consistent clarity that you'll find in the best Beethoven playing. www.deccaclassics.com MICHAEL DERVAN
BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATAS IN D, OP 28 (PASTORAL); IN C MINOR, OP 13 (PATHÉTIQUE); IN C OP 2 NO 3 Angela Hewitt (piano) Hyperion SACDA 67605 ***
The fact that Angela Hewitt is famous for her playing of Bach, ie repertoire not primarily intended for the piano, should be no barrier to her in Beethoven. But for all its beauty of finish - the Fazioli piano she uses has especially luxurious resonances in its lower register - there's something a little bland in her approach to these three sonatas. It's not that she doesn't whip things up, or that she's afraid of going for a strident climax. It's that when she chooses to be emphatic she can sound rather school-mistressy, and that, while she communicates great clarity of musical line, the playing often lacks an essential Beethovenian tension. www.hyperion-records.com MICHAEL DERVAN
PLATTI: SIX FLUTE SONATAS OP 3 Paul Wåhlberg (flute), Knut Erik Sundquist (double bass), Hans Knut Sveen (harpsichord, clavichord) Naxos 8.570282 ****
Giovanni Benedetto Platti was a court musician in Würzburg in from 1722 until the end of his life in 1763. His duties included performing and teaching on numerous instruments as well as composing. His Flute Sonatas, Op. 3, published in 1743, are here realised in unusual ways, with a double bass playing continuo rather than cello, and with the keyboard part in the fourth sonata played on a clavichord (so whisper-quiet that even the light-toned baroque flute quite dominates it) rather than a harpsichord. The style straddles the worlds of baroque and classical, and the three Norwegian period instruments' musicians play this rarely-encountered music with consistent engagement. www.naxos.com MICHAEL DERVAN
MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH: CONCERTOS AND ENCORES Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) Deutsche Grammophon Original Masters 477 6505 (2 CDs) ****
These recordings were made in the 1950s, when the late Mstislav Rostropovich was still in his 20s. Most are new to CD and were first issued on the Westminster label, whose catalogue Deutsche Grammophon acquired some years ago. At this early stage in his career, the great man played like a force of nature, imaginatively untrammelled in expression and effortlessly commanding in technique. The concertos featured here are by Saint-Saëns and Schumann, and the selection of encores runs to original pieces and arrangements, including one of Paganini's Moto perpetuo. The recordings, anything but state of the art, have cleaned up well. www.deutschegrammophon.com MICHAEL DERVAN
