Schumann, Debussy, Ligeti, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Messian :  Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) Barbican Hall, 22.5. 2007 (CC)

Few pianists today exhibit the searching intellect that gives birth to the recitals of Pierre-Laurent Aimard. An entire concert  anchored around the concerpt of the etude sounds, on paper at least, dull; but despite its somewhat short measure (it finished at 9.10pm!), Aimard gave us an experience that was at once thought-provoking, surprising and ultimately uplifting.

The first half was dedicated to just one piece – Schumann's Etudes symphoniques (with the posthumous etudes inserted between the seventh and eighth etudesd of the original). I found Aimard's Warner recording of this rather dry and underwhelming. In concert, things were rather different. The chordal theme came from deep within, perfectly balanced by a pearly treble. Here, with the aid of an audience Aimard successfully projected a sense of the monumental. The major-key Etude III had real warmth while the fourth displayed elements of a Mendelssohn scherzo but with sharp, almost grotesque accents added. The circular figures of the first Posthumous Variation could perhaps have been a tad more warm, of human even – humanity, though, was definitely not lacking in the 'nocturne' (with its excellent, emphatically non-Chopinesque filigree). The finale bulldozed its way onto the scene, grand in conception but lacking the vital cumulative effect Schumann's insistent repetitions surely invoke.

Like many music publications, MusicWeb has a Concert of the Year. Aimard may have provided my 'Second Half of the Year', so impressive was Aimard's trawl; through paired etudes by Debussy, Chopin, Ligeti (the mainstay of this sequence) and Messiaen. This was truly inspired programming.  Aimard is inextricably linked with the Ligeti Etudes (masterpieces all, by the way). Ligeti's Etudes are most often heard as a group, so to have them juxtaposed with works that comprised a mini-history of the genre was a masterstroke.

Debussy's sideways glance at Czerny ('Pour les cinq doigts') paired well with the quasi-Debussian Ligeto of Ligeti's seventh Etude, 'Galamb borong' (the latter reveals whole-tone invocations of gamelan).Chopin, of course, is the Grand Master of etude composition. Aimard's delicious right-hand tone made the Op. 25/2 a special experience; Ligeti's stuttery Third Etude, 'Touches bloquées' was the perfect foil.

Aimard is not really known for his Rachmaninov, but his Etude-Tableau Op. 33/5 (E flat minor) was carefully pedalled and made one yearn for more. It was Rachmaninov's characteristic nostalgia that linked to Ligeti's 'Automne à Varsovie' (Etude 6), the latter's descending scales dripping hypnotically. Another Chopin/Ligeti juxtaposition brought complementary colours. The crepuscular indigo of the first Nouvelle Etude sat perfectly beside the multi-greened Ligeti study 11, 'En suspens'. A fairy-tale next, in the form of Liszt's Fifth Paganini Etude ('La chasse'), a partner to Ligeti's 'Fanfares', with its typically Ligetian ostinati.

Finally, some of Aimard's beloved Messiaen – the first of the 'Quatre Etudes de Rhythme ('Île de feu I'). Messiaen's total compositional mastery was clear in this dark piece, whose rhythmic shiftings are not so far removed from Ligeti's 'L'escalier du Diable' (the thirteenth etude). Aimard feeds off Ligeti's challenges as if they are his daily bread. It appeared in this performance that the very boundaries of the piano's capabilities were being stretched, generating an excitement that was sorely missed at the end of the Schumann.

 

Colin Clarke