Jill Crossland is a British pianist who has studied
with Paul Badura-Skoda, among others. This seems to be her first
recording (though since there is no information about the artist
in the CD notes, I am basing this on the fact that I find nothing
by her at any on-line music dealers). A performer of both romantic
music and Bach, Crossland here tries to stand out from the herd
with this recording of the Goldberg Variations.
So, how can a performer make an impact when recording
such a work? Of the dozens of recordings available on piano, is
it possible that there is nothing left to say about this work?
Crossland takes a very strange tack with this recording. She begins
with an almost atomized reading of the opening aria. At over six
minutes this is the longest interpretation I am familiar with.
She performs almost like Wolfgang Rübsam (who has recorded
many of Bach's keyboard works for Naxos), with a tempo that is
not only slow but that makes you notice how slow it is by her
lack of legato.
There is something interesting here, but the
fast tempo (faster than many performers) of the first variation
broke me from my spell. I was entranced by the aria, but the contrast
with the first variation came as a shock. Crossland continues
with this ambiguous interpretation throughout the set. She plays
the slow variations very slowly, often with little or no legato
to stress this tempo (such as in the 7th and 9th variations),
yet this lack of legato is not always retained throughout the
variation or repeat.
Dynamically, Crossland has strengths and weaknesses.
Her overly forte bass notes in the repeats of the 5th variation
sound like a hammer striking an anvil, and seem at odds with the
overall rhythm. But her beginning of the 10th variation, with
a subtle increase in dynamics as the opening section progresses,
is quite interesting. Yet, again, the bass notes resound far too
strongly at times in the repeat. This seems to be more a problem
with the way the piano is miked, and the excessive reverb may
also contribute to it.
The most impressive variation in this set is
the 25th, which is one of Bach's most moving keyboard movements
and is a piece that can stand on its own. As with the aria, Crossland
plays this very, very slowly (almost 9 minutes). This is an interesting
approach, but I cannot help but think that she overdoes it just
a bit. While I tend to prefer slow performances of this movement,
I find this too slow. There are too many moments where the music
becomes unravelled, where the thread is lost and the listener
can miss out on Bach's profound musical statements.
Several things about this disc beg the question
of whether Warner is doing artists a justice with the releases
in this series. Most of the Apex titles are re-releases of "classic"
recordings at budget price, but they have released a few discs
of relatively unknown artists, such as Crossland. There is no
information on the artist, and this is obviously a recording that
languished in a drawer someplace - it was recorded 5 years ago
- waiting for an opportunity to be released. In addition, an approach
as idiosyncratic as Crossland's deserves an explanation from the
artist (in the notes). What will become of this recording and
Jill Crossland? Obviously, Warner is not very concerned.
While I wouldn't recommend this recording to
listeners looking for a first disc of the Goldberg Variations,
the curious will find much here that may pique their interest.
I'm not totally convinced by her approach, but I'm certainly intrigued
by it, and am looking forward to hearing more from this young
pianist.
Kirk McElhearn