This release enshrines
performances of grandeur, imagination,
often bewildering weaknesses but almost
unlimited interest. The earliest performance
dates from June 1925 and though the
rather meagre notes (entirely biographical)
make no mention of it the British issue
of the Chopin B minor Sonata (Columbia
L1695/97, in the USA 67158/60) was the
first ever electrical release in the
domestic L series. The sound is, amazingly,
rather richer and fuller than in the
companion B flat minor Sonata recorded
three years later. If you start with
Grainger’s Chopin I suggest you programme
your player to track nine because this
is by a long way the more convincing
performance. Though there are, as elsewhere
on the disc, wrong notes a-plenty, and
a rather profligate approach generally,
there is an immense sense of animation,
exploration and fluency. His rubati
are highly personalised as one would
expect from a musician of his background
but he vests drama and colour in the
Allegro first movement and the little
Scherzo is a fissure of theatre. In
the Largo there is, despite the split
chording, a sense of constant motion,
of colour and of incident – also of
a genuine sense of passion. Despite
the attendant technical problems, some
of which are simply subsumed into the
flux of this theatre, the finale drives
ever-onward full of clarity even at
a relatively fast tempo and Graingerian
exuberance.
The B flat Sonata is
something of a disappointment after
all these high spirits and power. Much
of the opening movement is under too
much pedal, the phrasing is strangely
unvaried and plain, and the sense of
disjunction pervasive. The Scherzo lurches,
full of hesitations and unconvincing
rubati, and whilst the Funeral March
is better, with rolled and spread chords.
The sonata as a whole is too indifferently
performed to act as a coherent statement.
The B minor Etude is much better – strong
and sinewy. There is also the by no
means little matter of the Bach-Liszt
and Bach-Grainger, a trio of mighty
and magnificent recordings dating from
October 1931. The A minor is full of
leonine power with stunning separation
of voices and real Lisztian bravura.
The Fantasia and Fugue in G minor also
in the Liszt arrangement has grandiose
monumentality and Grainger’s own arrangement
of the D minor has an awesomely Olympian
profile.
The transfers are splendidly
quiet and full of presence and worthy
of Grainger’s memorable playing.
Jonathan Woolf
Percy Grainger (piano)