If, like me, you already have recordings of these concertos then
you may well feel like moving on to another page. But hold on
a minute. Yes, you may have the great Richter, the blemish-free
Berezovsky, the powerful Zimmerman. You may have the exact coupling
by the much underrated Arnold Cohen or you may cherish, as I do,
the version conducted by Giulini with Lazar Berman. However the
version under review here is also worthy of your attention. Eldar
Nebolsin is certainly no slouch, and as for the RLPO, well Vasily
Petrenko has caused quite a stir in Liverpool. Having heard
him about three time times in the last year I can vouch for the
dedicated hard work and flare that he brings to the orchestra
and all who work with him. In addition the Naxos engineers have captured the Philharmonic Hall
in an exceptionally powerful and realistic recording.
Nebolsin it was, by the way, who, aptly, won the
Richter Prize in 2005 for his Mozart concerto playing. Funnily
enough it is his experience in Mozart that might account for
the elegant and lyrical way he has with the slower music of
the First Concerto. Listen for example to the first movement’s
second subject and the whole of the second movement. This is
not an OTT performance. Indeed the scherzo, famous for its deliberate
triangle solos (!) is extremely fleet of foot; more power to
the RLPO for that. This concerto caused Liszt some little difficulty.
Sketched originally in 1832 when he was 21, he orchestrated
it as late as 1849 with the help of Joachim Raff. It was revised
in 1853 and first performed in 1855. One advantage of the work
is that it weighs in at less than twenty minutes. Lazar Berman
mentioned above is almost two minutes longer but this is partially
thanks to Giulini’s insistence on drawing out the slower music
to extremes. This new version is to the point but loses none
of the work’s interest. In fact, for me it helps to hold my
interest.
The same comments could well apply to the Second
Concerto. This is a more subtle work which involves itself much
more in the transformation and metamorphosis of themes which
combine at different tempi throughout. Divided into four movements
but played without a break these brief movements include mood
and tempo changes. Liszt was occupied with the Concerto from
1839 up to the time of eventual publication in 1863. It received
its first airing in 1857. Recommended performances might include
Kondrashin on Philips or Emanuel Ax on the Theta label. Whilst
it’s true to say that Nebolsin could be dreamier in the dreamy
sections and the Allegro deciso third section could have more
attack, this new version is beautifully recorded. All of the
details are quite clearly heard across the wide stereo picture
and although not riveting, it all works as a good-quality performance
which can happily take its place on any shelf.
What is it about the Dies Irae – a fragment
of plainchant from the requiem mass about the Day of Judgment
- which so haunted a great many Romantic composers. Rachmaninov,
another composer-pianist was obsessed with it, using it in many
works for instance ‘The Isle of the Dead’ for obvious reasons,
and the better known ‘Rhapsody on theme of Paganini’. Paganini,
it was said, was so brilliant that he must be in league with
the Devil, hence the Day of Judgment. Liszt, likewise was a
man that feared judgment hence his eventual acceptance into
the Roman Catholic church to appease his life-long sins - so
he thought. Indeed the work may well have been inspired by a
visit to Pisa with his mistress Marie d’Agoult who produced
three children by him. There he saw a certainly moving Last
Judgment fresco in the so-called Monumental Churchyard. It is
attributed to Andrea Orcagna (c.1350). Liszt wrote what amounts
to a series of five variants on the plainchant with the extraordinary
virtuoso outer sections framing somewhat more reflective inner
ones. It is a startling and very satisfying work. The myriad
technical difficulties are awesomely overcome by Nebolsin who
is, as in the concertos, always thoughtfully and ably partnered
by Petrenko’s orchestra.
All in all this is a very satisfactory combination
of works. They are nicely presented with booklet notes by Keith
Anderson and biographies and photos of the main protagonists.
Gary Higginson
see also Review
by Michael Cookson
