Although only 28 years old, Italian pianist Christian Leotta
has already played through the cycle of Beethoven sonatas at
least
ten times in cities around the globe. Now his interpretations
of these masterpieces are being committed to disc. It
is not unusual for young pianists to record Beethoven – limiting
the field to those currently in their twenties both Jonathan
Biss and
Freddy
Kempf have recorded Beethoven
sonatas. A complete cycle from a 20-something pianist
is a little unusual nowadays, though. It wasn’t always
- Friedrich Gulda’s 1950s cycle for Decca and Barenboim’s
1960s set for EMI are two earlier examples that come to
mind.
Comparisons with Barenboim in particular are apposite. Leotta’s performances
of Beethoven are thought-through and on the expansive side,
in a manner not dissimilar to the young Barenboim’s - though
without the same spontaneity - or indeed the old Arrau’s
though without the hard-won conviction. He certainly differs
from both of them in the sharper, flintier sounds he gets
out of his Steinway, qualities of tone emphasised by ATMA’s
realistic if dry and closely recorded sound. This is not
necessarily a negative.
On the evidence of this double CD, Leotta is a fine pianist and has
the makings of a fine Beethovenian. None of these interpretations
is first choice, but they have an undeniable integrity.
Of the six sonatas collected here, the slight, intimate sonata Op.78
probably comes off the best, inspiring Leotta to some lovely
cantabile playing in the hushed first movement and encouraging
his sense of fun in the fleet and playful second.
He is almost as successful in the last of the Op.10 triptych. The
first movement dances at an apt tempo and sparkles with
Beethovenian wit and fun. The finale is also well shaped
and inflected and the third movement that precedes it,
though understating the left hand’s well-meaning interruptions
(shades of Barenboim), fits Leotta’s overall scheme.
The slow movement, however, tends to the lugubrious, and seems distended
and lacking in tension in places, as if weighed down by
its own seriousness. Movement timings never tell the whole
tale – as Sir Hamilton Harty reminded Neville Cardus – but
they can be usefully indicative. Although Leotta is clearly
aiming for profundity and solemn gesture here, his 11:11
largo
e mesto is far longer than the 8:09 of Richter (EMI),
the 8:12 of Schiff (ECM), the 9:17 of the then 25-year
old Friedrich Gulda (Decca) or the 10:10 of the young Alfred
Brendel (Vox). All of these manage, in their different
ways, to keep this music's sense of tragedy without sacrificing
its sense of proportion in the context of this innovative
but still Classical sonata.
That said, Paul Lewis (Harmonia Mundi) at 11:04 and the venerable
Claudio Arrau (his 1985 Philips recording) at 11:15 take
just as long as Leotta over this most profound of Beethovenian
slow movements, but both are better able to maintain tension
by the sheer power of their concentration. Barenboim,
who takes an almost perverse 12:01, somehow makes the long
time span seem shorter, his rhapsodic expression lending
a quasi-improvisatory feel. His conception of this movement
is also more of a piece with his free interpretation of
the sonata as a whole.
The A flat major sonata Op.26 – the first of the revolutionary gang
of four composed in 1801 that bridge Beethoven’s early
and middle periods at the keyboard – is another generally
fine performance. The theme and variations first movement
opens with an almost halting statement of the theme and
is by turns haunting, poetic and stately as the theme is
varied, although the A flat minor variation and the one
that follows are overly slow and heavy footed. Ideally
these variations should all be played at more or less
the same tempo. The scherzo is nicely inflected, despite
Leotta’s right hand tending to dominate even when the left
has the theme. András Schiff would take Leotta to task
in the funeral march (he takes 8 minutes to Schiff’s 5),
but questions of tempo aside, markings are being ignored
here here. The trumpet and horn blasts after the bass
register drum rolls sound pedaled and unaccented. Where
is the fortissimo explosion? The finale, well paced and
proportioned, brings a return to form, though there is
something a little stop-start to the phrases, which dovetail
more neatly in accounts by Schiff, Barenboim and others.
The
Pathetique is not quite as successful. While Leotta eschews
the young Barenboim's heavy rhetoric in the
grave introduction
(which neither of them repeat), the following
allegro does
not flow as naturally, with big expressive pauses and clipped
articulation jarring somewhat. The second movement is
altogether move successful, if not as sweetly flowing as
Barenboim's. His account of the finale prizes poetry rather
than virtuoso show.
The performance of Op.57, the
Appassionata, is also similarly
flawed. The first movement is burdened by over-earnestness,
marred by a tendency to lapse into mezzo forte, and loses
its sense of flow and momentum in the development. The
quietly introvert
andante is better, with some lovely
playing and intelligent voicing, but the finale disappoints
once again, with a muted initial attack and heavy tempi. There
are no Barenboim, Richter (RCA), Kovacevich (EMI) or Brautigaum
(BIS) tragic heroics here, but there are other ways to
play this music of course. Overall Leotta's is a thoughtful
performance that does not quite come off. Paul Lewis takes
a similar tack with much greater success, being more subtle
in his dynamic and colouristic shadings, and more compelling
in logic.
The final sonata in some ways finds Leotta at his finest, though I
found this performance one of the most disappointing of
the set, not for any technical flaw but for overall feel. Leotta's
tempi are measured, but his pulse is firmer here than elsewhere
in this set and he paces the
arietta beautifully. There
is a sense, though, that his sense of awe of the music
inhibits him. Ultimately the performance seems too deliberate,
to the point that the first movement turns foursquare as
Leotta deals with Beethoven's gnarled contrapuntal writing. Turn
to the young Barenboim, or better yet the young Kovacevich
on Philips, and you will find altogether more confident
conceptions more confidently projected. For me Pollini
(DG) and Brendel (Philips) remain at the head of the list
in this final sonata, together with Kovacevich’s EMI remake. Leotta
does not stand with them, for now at least.
The market for Beethoven sonatas is crowded, and each new entry
into the lists must jostle with the giants of yesteryear for
a place at the front. That is not to say that there is
no room for new recordings of these masterpieces – as many
have reflected, there is no getting to the bottom of the
32. Leotta’s recordings are sincere and worthy, but the
recently completed cycles from
Paul Lewis (about
7 years Leotta’s senior) and
András Schiff,
not to mention
Ronald
Brautigam’s unfolding fortepiano
traversal,
make much more compelling claims on your attention and
your wallet.
Tim Perry
Christian
Leotta (piano) 
