Caetani, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Boccadero, Solbiati, Fazzari, Campogrande: Roberto Prosseda (piano). Wigmore Hall, 25.6.2007 (CC)

 

Roberto Prosseda has made two fascinating discs of rare Mendelssohn for Decca (Mendelssohn Rarities, on 476 5277 and Mendelssohn Discoveries on 476 3038). As a rare example of a musician who is as much musicologist as he is performer, he presents on those discs informed, sensitive and well-recorded statements of music that might otherwise have been left to languish in various libraries. I interviewed Prosseda for Fanfare magazine (issue 30:3), and reviewed those discs at the same time. His enthusiasm was obvious as we spoke, and his description of his recitals where he mixes pure Mendelssohn with completions new works inspired by that composer was mouth-watering. Here was an example of his process, and it did not disappoint.

For these discs, Prosseda used a Borgato piano. In interview he made the interesting comment that that decision was made because of the Borgato's propensity for clarity, a clarity not easy to achieve on a Steinway. Well, it was a Steinway in use at the Wigmore, and clarity did not seem to suffer at all.

The first half consisted of music by Roffredo Caetani and Schubert. Caetani (1871-1961) was baptized by Franz Liszt (!) and studied with Sgambati. His large output includes two operas and the present offering, the fourteen-minute Twelve Variations on a Chopin Prelude, Op. 7 of 1903. The Prelude in question, heard complete at the opening, is the C minor one. The variations themselves range from a Chopin-like Nocturne through Bachian purity through to the overtly Lisztian bravura and rhetoric of the final stages. Prosseda gave the work its full due, playing with convincing sweep.

The Schubert Four Impromptus, D899/Op. 90 of 1828 are a problematic interpretative prospect. Schubert's train of thought is more ruminative than dynamic (although it certainly includes dynamic elements). The first is in C minor, making a good follow-on from the Caetani (incidentally, Prosseda's Decca discs are similarly carefully planned). Prosseda's considered approach, so full of both love and respect for his texts, seems to me reminiscent of that of  the great Schubertian Imogen Cooper. The infamousWigmore acoustic merely claimed another victim, though, as the piano tone was nearly too strong for the hall at one point (it is easy to overwhem here). The E flat brought triplets that nearly had the requisite fluency but not quite; the contrasting section was appropriately proud of mein, even if its introductory chord was on the perfunctory side. Better was the famous G flat, with a fine right-hand cantabile and a slightly and deliberately prominent inner voice heightening the implicit disquiet. A nicely flighty right hand brought delight to the final, well-known A flat.

The second half contained the real meat, though; the real raison d'ętre of the recital. There is a huge amount of Mendelssohn's music that still only exists in manuscript - he was, after all, one of the most prolific of composers. The Mendelssohn works included here were only published a few years ago (they form part of Oxford's Bodleian Library collection). The Fugue in E flat of 1826 (recorded on 476 5277) dates from the time of Mendelssohn's study of Bach's St Matthew Passion. The theme itself seems reminiscent of a recitative from Bach's work in which Christ predicts the oncoming betrayal. The counterpoint is quite rigorous, but the textures are fairly rich. Carlo Boccadero (born 1963) chose another (incomplete) E flat Fugue as the basis for his 2006 Lullaby, wherein the left-hand plays the few lines of the original. The right-hand provides a commentary, hinting at times at Messiaen. This was the first European performance.

Alessandro Sorbiati (born 1956) composed his Fuga Felix in 2006. This Wigmore performance was a World Premiere, based on the same fragment that Boccadero used, but trying to decode the music from within. The music's surface was immediately more pointillist, the lines more disjunct. When some of Mendelssohn does appear, his innocence underlined, he is quickly subsumed into the Boulezian milieu. Fascinating. I for one would like to hear more Sorbiati, that's for sure.

The Mendelssohn Allegro con fuoco (Sonata in G) of 1840/41 was heard here in a 2006 completion by Gabrio Taglietti. The turbulent opening seemed reminiscent of the same section of Schumann's great C major Fantasie, and the temperature continued to rise (parts even sounded like of Liszt's Dante Sonata!). A fascinating use of recitative increased the appeal.

Henri Fazzari (born 1931) is a pianist and composer who has studied with Michelangeli and Carlo Zecchi. His Lied ohne Worte of 2006 is based on Mendelssohn's Op. 30/3. Alas, this seemed to be the weak link of the second half. Rachmaninov seemed to be the main influence here, the impact left being far too sugary. Corale & Remix (2006) by Nicola Campogrande (born 1965) takes a Lutheran chorale, 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden' (a chorale attributed to Hassler and which also inspired Bach in his St Matthew Passion) and completed it along Mendelssohnian lines. The straight chorale leads to a tender throbbing that fuels right-hand explorations. Campogrande then takes Mendelssohn's lines for various walks, moving closer and closer to jazz. Fascinating.

Finally, two straight Mendelssohn works that appeared on Prosseda's 'Discoveries' disc, both receiving their UK Premieres. The Capriccio in E flat dates from 1824 and was written for Mendelssohn's friend Louis Heydemann (it is listed as in E flat major in the programme and E flat minor on the disc: to clarify, the Andante first part is in the major, the Presto in the minor). There are Beethovenian references here, to the Moonlight and Tempest Sonatas. The simple Andante came as a breath of fresh air after the preceding twenty-first century tinkerings (good though they were). The sparkly main body of the Capriccio was excellently articulated, bringing Perahia to mind in its cleanliness coupled with joie-de-vivre. Finally, the Adagio and Presto agitato in B flat minor of 1833, an alternative version of the Capriccio Op. 33/3. As a later piece, it contains darker harmonic shadings than the preceding work on the programme. The Presto agitato was given elements of the daemonic by Prosseda, even tending towards the Lisztian towards the end.

An encore of an F major Lied ohne Worte, its melody sweetly singing over a bed of sound, was a lovely way to send us home from a stimulating and rewarding evening.

 

Colin Clarke