Henry PURCELL (1659-1695) (arr. Henderson)
Minuet in G major [2:21]
Sicilienne in G minor [1:01]
Gavotte in G major [1:09]
Air in G major [1:20]
rec. 26 October 1937, EMI Studio No. 3, Abbey Road, London
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) (arr. Cortot)
Concerto in D minor, BWV 596 (after Vivaldi Concerto Op. 3, No. 11) [9:57]
rec. 18 May 1937, EMI Studio No. 3, Abbey Road, London
Arioso (Arrangement of Largo from Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056) [3:05]
rec. 18 May 1937, EMI Studio No. 3, Abbey Road, London
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Variations Sérieuses, Op. 54 (1841) [10:46]
Song Without Words in E, Op. 19, No. 1 (from Bk.1, 1825-45)
[3:32]
rec. 19 May 1937, EMI Studio No. 3, Abbey Road, London
César FRANCK (1822-1890)
Prélude, Chorale and Fugue (1884) [17:11]
rec. 6, 19 March 1929, Small Queen’s Hall, London
Mats. Cc 15975/78; Cat. DB 1299/1300
Prélude, Aria and Finale (1886-87) [20:54]
rec. 8 March 1932, EMI Studio No. 3, Abbey Road, London
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Étude en forme de Valse, Op. 52, No. 6 (1877) [4:32]
rec. 13 May 1931, Small Queen’s Hall, London
Alfred Cortot (piano)
rec. see listing for details.
NAXOS HISTORICAL 8.111381 [75:47] [DC]
Here is another rich vein of recordings from a bygone era, but preserving
some of the interpretations for which Alfred Cortot became justly famous.
The programme opens with some relatively light repertoire. Purcell’s little
dance tunes are a surprise to find in recordings of this vintage, and it was
the arranger A.M. Henderson, a former pupil of Cortot, whose mission was to
create educational material and resurrect neglected work so that they could
be played on the piano. Cortot was in baroque mood, having recorded the Bach
transcriptions on this disc in the same studio just a few months earlier.
He presents Purcell in an admirably playful and transparent style, unfussy
but flexible, teasing out the expressive character and dance mood of the pieces
without endowing them with unsuitable weight.
This is less true of the remarkable Concerto in D minor, BWV 596
which Bach had transcribed from a concerto by Vivaldi. As Jonathan Summers
points out in his notes for this CD, Cortot’s version sounds like an organ
transcription played on the piano, to the extent that some passages are actually
quite difficult to get a grip on. The introduction Praeludium is particularly
striking in this regard, the exploration of variation over the pedal bass
almost turning into an example of lugubrious modern minimalism. Pounding bass
and huge chord textures bring us closer to Liszt or Busoni than Bach in this
performance, with even the expressive Sicilienne rich in extra octaves
in places. This is an impressive example of Cortot’s pianism nonetheless,
but revealing of the taste of the period, and very much a recording of its
time. The beautiful Arioso which follows has a wonderful vocally expressive
melodic line and a restraint in the accompaniment which allows the music to
flow with elegance and freedom.
A day after the Bach recordings, Cortot was back for the two Mendelssohn recordings
on this disc. This is the first of three he made of the Variations Sérieuses,
Op. 54, and, while not without its technical flaws, is still a marvellously
intelligent and expressively communicative recording. You can hear the stylistic
gears change as Cortot adjusts to Mendelssohn’s more contrapuntal variations,
the character of accompaniments lifting melodic lines beyond mere tunes, the
extremes of mood portrayed with clear vision and almost tactile imaginative
force. This would have been the better of two takes, but without the benefits
of editing this has the feel more of a live performance than a cosmetically
perfect studio recording. I love the energy though, and few pianists push
the music this far to the outer edges of its expressive limits. In this Cortot
really is the father of later greats like Horowitz.
Cortot’s recordings of César Franck stand as testimony to his greatness as
a performer of this composer’s music. The two recording dates for the Prélude,
Chorale and Fugue stem from an intensive series of sessions recorded on
a rich sounding Pleyel piano in the Small Queen’s Hall in London. Along with
a blistering schedule of other repertoire, the work was recorded complete
on the 6th March 1929, and a number of re-takes were done on the
19th. Cortot’s renowned sense of form over the expanse of both
of the Franck works is of course well in evidence here, but it is equally
interesting to divine the ways in which Cortot is able to create atmosphere
and perform with a feel of genuine poetry. Despite the technical blemishes
which occasionally arise, there is a sense of balance and sensitivity even
where textures thicken and climaxes create genuine musical storms. The same
is true of the Prélude, Aria and Finale, where lightness of touch holds
at least part of the secret in Cortot’s sympathy and effectiveness in Franck’s
idiom. This slightly later EMI recording has less surface noise but a more
nasal mid-range to the piano sound. The more clattery effect where dynamics
rise is less flattering to Cortot’s touch, but it takes little effort to hear
the inner contrasts and vocal lines of phrasing which makes the performance
stand out as a true historical landmark. Especially the central Aria holds
the attention with its sense of magic, the feeling that the music is being
created on the spot – both improvisational and controlled, and very much from
the heart. The programme ends with Saint-Saëns’ virtuoso show-stopper, the
Étude en forme de Valse, this recording of which should remove any
doubt one might have about Cortot’s technical abilities.
These early recordings do of course have their limitations, but with excellent
mastering by an un-named expert I was pleasantly surprised at how good the
sound was for artefacts of such a vintage. Alfred Cortot looks out at us from
the cover with frightening intensity, and the recordings of Mendelssohn and
especially Franck reflect this stare, which seems to be able to penetrate
the soul and draw deepest from the creative wellsprings of each composer.
The squeaky-clean technical expectations of recordings today are a considerable
move away from the rough-hewn quality of some moments in Cortot’s playing,
but this takes nothing from their historical significance. Anyone interested
in the timeline of pianistic history should be aware of Alfred Cortot, and
having his legacy spruced up and presented in Naxos’ Great Pianists edition
is a real treat.
Dominy Clements
A real treat.