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John Bell Young is clearly
a pianist with a taste for the obscure: he has also recorded piano
works by Nietzsche (no less) on Newport Classics NPD85513. Here, in
the evocatively titled recital, Prisms, he matches Scriabin
with Mahler, picking up a tiny piece by Tolstoy (yes, that one) on
the way. His booklet note makes for scintillating reading in itself,
spurring one on to try the actual sound-experience of the disc itself.
Young
establishes his credentials right from the very start, with a fluent
account of the post-Chopinesque Impromptu, Op. 14 No. 2 .
His sensitivity comes to the fore in much of this music (the tender
Op. 32 No. 1 and the fragile Caresse dansée, Op. 57
No. 2 are good examples), but it is equally obvious that Scriabin’s
more obvious technical difficulties pose few problems, either. The
Seventh Sonata demonstrates Young’s affinity for late Scriabin sensuous
textures, delineating them well without losing their all-embracing
sonic perfume . Whimsy and tenderness go hand in glove with quasi-mystical
mists to make the disc recommendable for the Scriabin alone.
The
next three items are curios. Tolstoy’s little Waltz is a
delightful fragment (only 38 seconds!), a pretty period piece and
worth hearing . Astonishingly, Bell carries his own arrangement
of the famous Mahler Adagietto off very well, using up his
gamut of tonal resource in the process. If Hugh Downs’ An Old
Familiar Air which has its Own Tuxedo and Will Travel is appealing
Americana, at least Young presents it as such. Finally, Michael
Block was a pianist who won Artur Rubinstein’s approval in the Warsaw
Chopin Competition in the same year that Maurizio Pollini won the
coveted award (Young refers to him as ‘one of the great pianists
of the twentieth century’). His six-movement Un Beau Jour
is pleasant, sometimes slushy (as in the first movement), sometimes
reminiscent of other composers: Ravel (‘Autoroute du Sud’) and Scriabin
(if not on one of his better days, in ‘Rendezvous manque’) both
make their marks felt.
A more
thought-provoking disc than most, and one which will bring its fair
share of rewards to the more adventurous listener.
Colin
Clarke
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Impromptu
no2 op14
2
Poems op32 - Andante cantabile
2
Poems op32 - Allegro. Con eleganza. Con fiducia
Feuillet
d'album op45 no1
Nuances
op56 no3
Sonata
no7 op64 (White Mass)
Caresse
dansee op57 no2
Fragilite
op51 no1
Sonata
no5 op53
Etude
in D sharp minor op8 no12
Waltz
Adagietto
from Symphony no5 (trans. J. Bell Young)
An
Old Familiar Air which has its own Tuxedo...
Un
Beau Jour - Dis Moi
Un
Beau Jour - Te souviens-tu ?
Un
Beau Jour - Autoroute du sud
Un
Beau Jour - Rendez-vous manque
Un
Beau Jour - Viens...
Un
Beau Jour - L'heure revee
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John Bell Young (piano).