Felicja Blumental’s
many fans will no doubt be enjoying
this major series of reissues from Brana.
Polish-born Blumental had an enviable
reputation right up to her death in
Tel Aviv in 1991. She excelled in a
wide range of repertoire, from the major
classics through (then) forgotten areas
of the romantic era (Busoni, Ries, Saint-Saëns)
right up to commissioned pieces from
her avant-garde
countrymen Penderecki and Lutosławski.
Her love for the music
of another compatriot, Chopin, is evident
in virtually every bar of this waltz
set. Being from the era where pianists
were not afraid to take risks, or show
particular traits of originality, these
performances positively fizz with character,
wit and vitality. The grander waltzes,
such as the opening two in E flat and
A flat, have an imperious grandeur that
easily overrides the odd technical smudge.
I very much like her handling of the
more introspective and delicate pieces,
where the crystalline finger work and
limpid phrasing sound totally natural
and unforced. The famous, baleful opening
of No.7 in C sharp minor is captured
to perfection, whilst the following
waltz (another A flat) has a suitably
improvisatory quality that is not easily
forgotten. This is Chopin playing of
the highest order, with judicious tempi
throughout allied to eloquent rubato.
Whilst she may not display quite the
mercurial temperament that makes Dinu
Lipati’s set such a benchmark, she is
at least as convincing as (and perhaps
stylistically closest to) Rubinstein’s
last set on RCA, as well as including
three of the ‘extra’ works.
The recording is reasonably
full-bodied and clear, though hiss levels
sound almost as high as Lipati’s set
from over a decade earlier. Odd edit
points are audible (very hard to hide
on older recordings) and there seemed
to be a strange drop in dynamic level
for No.4, which then rights itself.
It’s a general measure of the success
of the balance and excellent piano tone
that I wasn’t even sure whether it was
mono or not (I changed my mind a couple
of times, eventually deciding that it
was). Either way, the sound will not
affect your overall enjoyment of some
beautifully refined and distinguished
pianism.
Tony Haywood
Felicja Blumental (piano) 