Sophie Cashell won a talent competition on BBC2 called Classical
Star, beating a bassoonist and guitarist to the title. As
I seldom watch TV, and when I do I go for cop shows, Neighbours
and SF (nerdy or what?), I had never heard of this competition
and when I was informed of it, upon receiving this disk for review,
I must admit to shuddering at the thought of a classical music
talent show. However, listening to this disk, I was most pleasantly
surprised, not by the programming, which is conservative to say
the least, there’s far too much Liszt to be really balanced, but
by the playing.
Cashell
is an Irish lass who’s been playing the piano from the age of
five and she certainly knows her way round the keyboard and
has quite a technique. The Chopin and Liszt pieces show us that
she understands the flowery, sometimes almost hot-house, musings
of the romantics. Chopin’s Scherzo gets things off to
a rousing start – you’d never start a recital with this would
you? – and the turbulent opening is well handled. The ensuing
chordal idea, coloured with fioriture, is given sufficient weight
for it to register its full impact. The closing section has
pyrotechnics a–plenty. In the Nocturne Cashell’s trills
aren’t quite smooth enough – I can hear the beats – and this
detracts somewhat from the general loveliness of her sound.
The fearsome difficulties of Liszt’s Ballade No.2 hold
no terrors for Cashell and she throws herself at the music and
gives a performance, by turns, of stormy power and introspective
quietude. We hear really big romantic performances of
the three Liebesträume
but the passionate climax of No.3 is spoiled by the clangy
tone of the piano, and after several hearings I am convinced
that this is not Cashell’s fault. I am less convinced by her
performance of Le chant du croisé
which seems too self-conscious, especially in the horsey
moments – where the knight is riding – and some of the filigree
work is unclear.
L’isle joyeuse
is far too reticent. Where is the wonder and excitement at the
prospect of going to Cythère? Where’s the magic? This is a phenomenally
difficult piece requiring not only high virtuosity but an insight
into the music concerning what it’s about. I feel that Cashell
does not understand the meaning of the music here; she can play
the notes but she can’t make them hang together as a complete
whole. I miss the ecstasy of the climax, the wonderful wild
ride. La cathédral
engloutie begins quite beautifully,
with some gorgeously delicate playing. Here is restraint, understatement
and it is perfect, but the build-up to the climax, and the climax
itself, are too heavy and stiff. Where is the insight of the
opening? This should have been more sustained and less banged
out for the sake of volume. But the quiet music following this
is quite exquisite. Ms Cashell needs to think her way through
a composition instead of seeing it as parts of a whole; that
way we’d have had a cathédral
engloutie of some grandeur and excellence. Minstrels is too fleet-footed
to register its humour and the fast passages are scrambled in
an effort to keep the tempo.
Philip
Martin’s Two Variations on Irish Airs are pleasant
enough but reveal nothing new to the musical world. The bonus
track – which follows a full 73 seconds later – is a rather
nothing piece of supposed jazz which is the kind of thing the
Labèque
sisters can bring off with aplomb at the end of their recitals
but needs more care and attention than it gets here.
The
trouble with issuing a disk of such music is that you’re up
against some very stiff competition – Michelangeli in the Debussy
Préludes, Roy Howat in L’isle joyeuse, John Chen in Ravel’s Pavane,
Argerich in the Chopin Scherzo, Leslie Howard in Liszt.
In general, Cashell lacks the insight necessary to perform this
music. She has the technique – make no mistake, she can play
the piano – but she needs to work more on interpretation to
really make this music come alive in performance. She isn’t
helped by a rather tinny and noisy recorded sound which, at
times, especially in the louder music, makes the piano sound
very unpleasant.
I really wish I
could be more positive but I can only write about what I hear
and what I hear is a pianist finding her musical feet, and not
being ready for this opportunity. It’s simply come too early
in her career. However, I do look forward to hearing Ms Cashell
in four or five years time.
Bob Briggs
