Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987)
Three Preludes (WoO, originally Op. 19) (1924)
Three Preludes, Op. 1 (1925)
24 Preludes, Op. 38 (1943-1944)
Raphaël Epstein (piano)
rec. 2021, Studio de Meudon, Meudon, France
ARS PRODUKTION ARS38611 [64]
I often find myself idly daydreaming - what would have become of Dmitry Kabalevsky had the Soviet Union never existed? Perhaps in a better place this composer of remarkable talent and fluency would have been an unlikely 20th century composite of Massenet and Scriabin. Or maybe he would have been very much the same composer. After all, although he composed a significant amount of music for official occasions and use, his concert and even pedagogical music largely sounds untouched by the capital-H history that unfolded (and eventually began to unravel) during the composer’s lifetime. Kabalevsky never seemed to wrestle with his soul about his role as a Soviet artist and bureaucrat. Cheerful to the very end, it seemed he understood his skillful political maneuvering as a small price to pay for generally being left alone artistically and professionally. Much like the man himself, his music goes its own way. Those hoping to find a kind of “secret diary” in these works will be disappointed. Not only was the composer uninterested in grappling with aesthetic trendiness and political ideas in his concert music, he also saw no need to “write for the drawer.” What you hear is what you get.
Pianist Raphaël Epstein offers listeners a selection of Kabalevsky’s delightful piano music on this Ars Produktion disc, with most of the program taken up by the 24 Preludes, Op. 38; composed during the Second World War, and dedicated to Nikolai Myaskovsky. Along with Kabalevsky’s Piano Sonata No. 3, it was briefly internationally popular before being relegated to the margins of the repertoire. It is the audience’s loss as the music is of exceptional quality. Droll, inventive, and tuneful, Kabalevsky’s 24 Preludes deserve to be played far more often than they presently are. Lucky that on records, at least, we have sympathetic performers like Epstein who are ready to champion the composer’s cause. Rather than impose his ideas upon this music, he wisely allows it to take his fingers where they may, although his tone imparts a Romantic mellowness that slightly tapers the edges off. Try Epstein’s performance of Kabalevsky’s “Moderato e tranquillo” seventh prelude. It falls easily enough on the ears, but it is a minor feat of pianistic acrobatics. Carefully nuanced textures, dynamics, and rubati support the music’s singing line, while its interlacing crunchy, quasi-staccato accompaniment is kept in balance. Listen to the initial mock fury of the “Allegro feroce” twenty-fourth prelude, which gently spoofs its counterpart that closes the 24 Preludes of Chopin. Appropriately Mephistophelian in Epstein’s hands, the pianist does not miss a beat when the coda takes a surprise left turn from raucousness to wistful introspection.
A pair of youthful works consisting of three preludes each opens this album. It begins with the world premiere recording of the Three Preludes from 1924, composed when Kabalevsky was 19. This is attractive music, ideal for encores, although the composer had yet to fully subsume his love of Scriabin, particularly his middle period works. The mature Kabalevsky begins emerging in the next set of Three Preludes, Op. 1, composed a year later. Here the composer’s lifelong penchant for cleanly etched melodies, concision of expression, and Francophilia begin to emerge, although the Scriabinesque sound of the earlier preludes remains close by.
Epstein’s sound, with its warm touch and unhurried pacing, places Kabalevsky as a child of the 19th century who wandered deep into the 20th. It is a view that flatters this lovely music, not to mention its unflappable composer. For a steelier alternative, turn to Michael Korstick on CPO and the classic recordings of selections from Op. 38 by Vladimir Horowitz. However, for sheer sensuousness of sound, aided by resonant production, Epstein’s recording will not disappoint.
Néstor Castiglione
