Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Complete Chamber Music Vol.9: Music for Two Pianos
Variations on a Theme by Haydn Op.56b (1873) [16:51]
Sonata for two pianos in F minor Op.34b (1864) [39:48]
Eric Le Sage, Théo Fouchenneret (pianos)
rec. 31 January 2021, Salle de concert de Piano’s Maene, Ruiselede, Belgium
Reviewed as a digital download from a press preview
B RECORDS LBM032
[56:39]
It is not often I start a review talking about the instrument used, but the
pianos used on this illuminating disc make their presence felt from the
first bar. I suspect that poor old Monsieur Maene’s amazing creations will
go down in history as ‘Barenboim pianos’ and it remains to be seen if they
turn out to be a bit of a nine-day wonder. I wasn’t wholly convinced by
Barenboim’s own disc intended to demonstrate the capabilities of this new
piano but then I am seldom much convinced by his pianism these days,
greatly though I admire his conducting. This new recording seems to me a
better calling card. The programme note states that Barenboim wanted a
piano that could “reconcile the unique characteristic sonorous richness of
the historical piano with the volume, clarity, power and playing comfort of
the best modern concert pianos.”
I reviewed the album as a download which meant I was limited to hearing it
in mp3 format. Even given these limitations, the recording sounds extremely
well – not something that can necessarily be taken for granted with
recording two pianos. The piano sound seems to have a distinctive ‘chalky’
dryness to it anyway and, even as mp3s, there is a lifelike quality to the
sound.
These characteristics of the pianos used make them ideal for the task of
lightening and clarifying the sometimes thick textures of this music. One
obvious effect is that even at full volume, the piano never becomes
excessively strident. Mostly, however, the devil is in the detail and even
in a work as well known as the St Anthony Variations, my ear kept picking
up little features buried in the orchestral version. I knew of this
two-piano version, of course, but I don’t think I had ever heard it more
than a couple of times previous to preparing this review. I expected to
file this away under Enjoyable Curiosity but these two engaging French
musicians confounded my expectations.
Le Sage and Fouchenneret understand the way the pulse set in the opening
statement of Haydn’s theme runs through all the subsequent variations,
regardless of the different tempi. The key to good Brahms, in my opinion,
is the realisation that his textures are contrapuntal, not chordal. Rather
than an excessively stolid Teutonic Brahms, what we get it is a more
free-flowing, lighter version. If not quite a Gallic Brahms, certainly a
more Viennese one. Again, the role played by the pianos can’t be ignored in
aiding and abetting this approach.
Above all this version of the Variations is great fun, which is as it
should be. There are darker shadows, of course, and the performers are not
insensitive to them but primarily this is meant to be a life affirming
work. I always imagine when listening to it that what I am hearing is the
palpable relief of a composer free of the burden of having to write a
symphony.
It has become habitual to decry Brahms’ piano writing. Brendel tells an
amusing story about one of his children lamenting whenever he had to
practice Brahms. As with many things to do with the composer, I think this
is grossly unfair. Again and again listening to thus recording, I was
struck by how original and idiomatic his writing for the piano is. He knows
how to orchestrate, as it were, for the piano with a richness that belies
the percussive nature of the instrument. A prime example is the opening of
the first of the Haydn Variations – there is weight but not heaviness
because everything is so beautifully poised. In the same variation Ax and
Bronfman (Sony SK89868, download only) sound weary and loud. Even more
surprisingly, so too do Perahia and Solti (Sony G0100012224075, with
Bartók, download only). Eleonara Spina and Michele Benignetti (Brilliant
Classics 94956) are much better but, perhaps conditioned by the mellower
piano, the brightness of the top notes on all these recordings seems a bit
garish, as if spotlit.
The second work on this recording is a rather different matter. If the
Variations are taking a holiday from the symphony, the F minor Sonata for
two pianos is by any reckoning a symphony manqué. Starting life as a string
quintet with the Schubert lineup of two cellos, it was transformed first
into this two-piano version before a final transformation into the Piano
Quintet, in which form it is better known. Clara Schumann, on hearing the
two-piano version, called it as the symphony it undoubtedly is. Brahms, of
course, ignored her and everyone else and went his own way.
Far from being a curio, the two-piano version has attracted some big-name
pianists to try their luck with it, in the studio at least. There are
similarly starry named lineups for the Variations as well. As the reader
can probably already tell, this record is not just about the piano. This
duo can hold their heads up in even the most exalted company.
Looking at some of their rivals in the Sonata, Ax and Bronfman turn in a
thoughtful, lower key but beautiful shaped account. Argerich and
Zilberstein (review
– now Erato 5575042, with Mendelssohn, download only) follow the
performance tradition of the Piano Quintet version and really ramp up the
drama. It is very exciting and full of passion but it is very loud and I
confess that at times the two-piano sound left me feeling I was being
yelled at during the more volatile passages.
Le Sage and Fouchenneret steer an elegant and highly satisfactory course
between these extremes. By turning the flame down just a notch, they really
bring out the melancholy that is such a striking feature of Ax and
Bronfman. Whereas Ax and Bronfman sometimes let the fire go out a little,
Le Sage and Fouchenneret are equally attentive to the drama. Such is their
sensitivity to this balance that I found myself finding much more famous
accounts of the Piano Quintet, including those led by Richter (Alto
ALC1361, with Franck, budget price) and by Pollini (DG Originals 4748392,
mid-price, no coupling), a little uncouth!
The slow movement on two pianos is a harder nut to crack and really needs
the singing quality of strings to draw out its full nature. Le Sage and
Fouchenneret
are as good as anyone in trying to square this particular circle. To my
ears, the scherzo reverses the problem and Le Sage and Fouchenneret relish the
cross rhythms here in a way few of the string versions can quite manage.
There is an attractive spring to the rhythm where Argerich and Zilberstein
are fidgety and Ax and Bronfman somewhat flat footed. At the risk of
sounding like a piano salesman, it definitely helps that Le Sage and
Fouchenneret can really let rip here without the sound becoming
overbearing. The loud passages sound terrific in mp3 so I can imagine that
the CD sounds glorious.
This release is part of a complete Brahms chamber music project. I haven’t
yet heard any of the other releases but on the basis of this recording I
shall make a point of checking them out. The performance of the Sonata, in
particular, is a major addition to the catalogue.
David McDade
