MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS
Sound Samples & Downloads

Modest MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881)
Pictures at an Exhibition [32:28]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Sonata No. 8 'Pathétique' in C minor, op.13 [20:28]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Rhapsody in B minor, op.79 no.1 [9:13]
Rhapsody in G minor, op.79 no.2 [6:46]
Stephen De Pledge (piano)
rec. Music Room, Champs Hill, Pulborough, England, 11-12 December 2008. DDD
CHAMPS HILL RECORDS CHRCD 030 [69:12] 

Experience Classicsonline


Experienced Kiwi pianist Stephen De Pledge makes his debut solo recording for Champs Hill with a thoughtful programme drawn from the heart of the repertoire. Previously he has featured both in a chamber and solo capacity on a disc of various small-scale pieces by Messiaen (CHRCD 022).
 
Somewhat curiously, this new CD has taken four years to make it to the market. On the other hand, although there can be little argument about the artistic supremacy of Mussorgsky's Pictures, Beethoven's Pathétique and Brahms's Rhapsodies, it does seem rather unlikely that anyone will bounce with excitement over yet another recording of any of these works in what has long been an extremely congested marketplace. Indeed, with now hundreds of recordings available of central piano repertoire, it probably makes more commercial sense nowadays for a soloist of De Pledge's calibre to champion relatively neglected composers. Without denying either that he is a pianist of considerable poise who deserves to be heard, or that his recital is an intelligent, varied one, had De Pledge left Beethoven and Brahms for another day and recorded instead, say, a piano sonata by one of the many undervalued Russian or Polish contemporaries of Mussorgsky, this CD may well have found a larger audience.
 
Indeed, half De Pledge's programme is given over to Mussorgsky's Pictures which has, rather sadly, earned itself something of a reputation as a 'warhorse', at least in its orchestral form. Certainly it seems to crop up repeatedly in recordings and concert halls across Europe and beyond. Such 'ill repute' is undeserved, because the original piano version in any case is actually one of the most imaginative works of its kind of the entire 19th century, and De Pledge's account, whilst not without certain minor drawbacks - ponderous or workaday in places and an emotionally unexceptional 'Catacombae', for example - has enough insight, excitement and originality to lift it above a good many other recordings.
 
For reasons not altogether clear, the title Pictures atan Exhibition has become firmly entrenched in preference to the correct translation of Mussorgsky's original Russian, Pictures froman Exhibition. 'Pictures at' does not even make proper sense, strictly - Mussorgsky is not passively walking round his deceased artist friend's exhibition, noting pictures as he goes. Instead he has created his own edited, stylised version of it, selecting only a handful from the original 400-odd artworks and 'altering' their content to suit his musical ideas. These are Pictures taken from an exhibition, not contemplated at one. In his lengthy, informative and lucid booklet notes, the ever-reliable Malcolm MacDonald makes this fact pretty clear - but that does not prevent him from perpetuating the illogic.
 
Elsewhere, De Pledge's punchy Beethoven is likely to have wide appeal in its emotional centre-course - he happily avoids sentimentalising the famous adagio cantabile, for example - and he excels in the lyrical drama of Brahms's brilliant Rhapsodies.
 
Sound quality is good. Microphones are perhaps a shade closer than ideal - there is just an inkling of distortion in the very loudest passages of Pictures.
 
Ultimately, these are expert, attractive readings that do not, however, quite add up to essential listening, particularly given the huge, frequently illustrious competition already available on all three fronts. Those who have seen De Pledge play, supporters of the worthy not-for-profit cause that is Champs Hill Records, and collectomaniancs are the most likely market, and they will not be disappointed.
 
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
 
Masterwork Index: Pictures at an exhibition ~~ Pathetique sonata

 

 


 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Error processing SSI file