This new Dunelm recording
documents a recital given by Bernard
Roberts at the 2003 Chetham’s Summer
School, and I am very pleasantly surprised.
My previous exposure to Roberts had
been solely through his studio recordings
of Beethoven and Bach on the Nimbus
label. Although always tasteful and
enjoyable, I found his performances
a little lacking in incisiveness and
reluctant to explore highly meaningful
levels of emotional content.
The Bernard Roberts
we hear performing in front of a live
audience at Chetham’s Festival is far
more adventurous, demonstrative, and
sharper than in his studio efforts.
These qualities are most evident in
his performance of Schubert’s Sonata
in D major. Roberts does not give us
a flowery and singing Schubert, but
an aggressive and impetuous composer
unsure of his emotional compass. The
performance is the opposite of Wilhelm
Kempff’s on Deutsche Grammophon that
emphasizes Schubert’s singing lines
and tender refrains at every turn.
Roberts doesn’t even
allow Schubert’s aria-like melodies
to shine through in the 2nd
Movement Andante con moto, as he conveys
a constant regimen of clipped notes.
Ultimately, this interesting performance
of the D major does not do justice to
Schubert’s humanity and ranks lower
than the Kempff as well as most other
fine versions including the ones from
Michael Endres on Capriccio and Anthony
Goldstone on The Divine Art.
Roberts fares much
better in Haydn’s Sonata in E major.
He captures all the music’s wit, energy,
ceremony, and sparkle. However, I would
have preferred that Roberts play one
of Haydn’s more mature piano sonatas
invested with the strong degree of improvisation
and rhetorical bent so prevalent in
Haydn’s best piano works.
The prime reason to
acquire the Roberts recital disc is
his performance of the Variations and
fugue on a theme by Handel. This work
along with Bach’s Goldberg Variations
and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations
are the supreme variation works for
piano in the classical music repertoire.
The Brahms is based on the Air from
Handel’s Harpsichord Suite in B flat.
Handel gave us his theme and five variations,
and Brahms expanded the scope by composing
twenty-five variations and a concluding
fugue. The work encompasses a rich and
varied emotional palette using a wide
range of architectural styles. It is
immediately appealing and only grows
in stature on repeated hearings.
Bernard Roberts offers
a stunning achievement of the Handel
Variations that equals or exceeds my
favored versions including the Leon
Fleisher on Sony and Julius Katchen
on Decca. In the opening Aria Roberts
establishes a regal atmosphere, and
his staccato is delicious. The good
cheer and rhythmic bounce of Variation
1 are fully realized, and Roberts beautifully
captures the subtle urges and voice
interaction of Variation 2. He is enticingly
playful with his hesitations in Variation
3, and Variation 4 finds him demonstratively
rhetorical with a compelling rhythmic
swing. In Variation 5, Roberts takes
us into a dream state of ripe emotions
just waiting to burst out; this ripening
takes on a more desperate and darker
veneer in Variation 6.
I love how Roberts
plays the perky Variation 10 with an
exuberance and lift second to no other
recorded version. Variations 11 and
12 are gorgeous creations of subtle
intensity, and Roberts’s poignant inflections
ensure heart-felt interpretations. In
the majestic Variation 13, Roberts conveys
a spellbinding tension to the rumbling
bass and ascending lines. When it’s
time to go to the races in Variation
14 and the stern Variation 15, Roberts
is fast out of the gate and appropriately
powerful.
Not wishing to be repetitive
in my praise, I’ll move up to Variations
23-25 that take us from notes sneaking
around in the shadows to great rolls
of sound capped off by a celebratory
flourish. Roberts is feeling strong
in these three variations and is absolutely
exhilarating.
The concluding Fugue
is not an easy piece to put across in
a coherent manner. In most recorded
versions, the regimen ends up sounding
like a series of disconnected episodes,
but Roberts connects every strand and
phrase with his best interpretation
on the program. He makes this reviewer
feel that the ‘missing pages’ have all
been returned. Further, the blend of
stern and sublimely lyrical music is
intoxicating. The Fugue alone is worth
the price of the disc.
The only quibble I
have with the performance of the Handel
Variations is that Roberts could have
been more massive and stern in a few
of the most powerful variations such
as the granite-like Variation No. 9
and the heroically ascending Variation
20.
Bernard Roberts is
not a virtuoso, and he smudges some
lines and misses notes during his recital.
However, these types of blemishes are
typical in live performance and more
than offset by Roberts’s idiomatic interpretations.
The soundstage is on the dry side with
some congestion in the loudest passages,
but detail is excellent with a fine
degree of resonance.
In conclusion, the
Roberts recital disc is essential for
loyal fans of the Variations and Fugue
on a Theme by Handel. Roberts enthusiasts
must also hear this disc; they will
be stunned by the differences from his
studio efforts. For others, I give the
recording a mild recommendation given
that the Schubert is a bit wayward and
the sound quality is not exceptional.
Don Satz
Bernard Roberts, piano 