Works for Solo Piano - Volume Two
Ballade, Op. 10, No 2 [6:48]
Ballade, Op. 118, No 3 [3:10]
Intermezzo, Op. 117, No 2 [3:45]
Rhapsody, Op 119, No 4 [5:08]
Intermezzo, Op. 116, No 2 [3:48]
Intermezzo, Op. 116, No 6 [3:39]
Ballade, Op. 10, No 3 ‘Intermezzo’ [3:57]
Sonata No 3, Op. 5 (1853) [37:20]
Barry Douglas (piano)
rec. 12-13 September 2012, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge. DDD
CHANDOS CHAN10757 [68:35]
Last year I greatly enjoyed the first volume of Barry Douglas’s
projected cycle of the solo piano music of Brahms (review)
and I’m glad that it has been followed fairly closely by Volume
Two. As before Douglas includes a substantial work - last time it was
the Handel Variations - and a selection of shorter pieces. I still regret
that he’s breaking up Brahms’s collections of short pieces,
Op. 10 and Opp. 116-119. That means that collectors can’t conveniently
access Douglas’s performances of, say, Op. 10 on the same disc but
there we are; that particular die is obviously cast.
The present programme is dominated by the mighty Third Piano Sonata. In
his excellent notes Calum MacDonald speculates that this work may have
been written as a response and antithesis to the Liszt B minor Sonata,
which Brahms had heard Liszt play not long before he composed this sonata.
The scale and ambition of the Third Sonata is such that I think this is
a very plausible suggestion. The huge first movement is highly Romantic
and ranges through several moods. Following in the score I noted several
occasions when Barry Douglas eased back the tempo though such changes
were not marked, at least not in my edition. However, I make that point
not as a criticism because it seems to me that these are entirely
justifiable and convincing interpretative decisions and they all seem
to work very well. The development section is played with no little passion,
whether the music is loud or soft, and this seems highly appropriate to
the music. Douglas combines strength and expressiveness in what I think
is a commanding reading of this movement.
He’s poised and expressive in the songful Andante which, to be honest,
comes as refreshment for the listener after the turbulent and big first
movement. Near the close Barry Douglas offers much serene playing in the
Andante molto. The Scherzo is exciting and propulsive in his hands
though there’s grace in the trio. The second slow movement in this
five-movement work is entitled ‘Intermezzo’. That title often
suggests music that is light and easeful but this movement doesn’t
fall into this category. In fact Brahms added the word ‘Rückblick’
to the title, which is translated in the notes as ‘a backward glance’.
It’s a strange, probing composition and the bass demi-semiquavers
suggest a funeral march. Barry Douglas is very fine indeed in this movement.
The finale begins dramatically and thereafter describes a variety of moods,
including an important chorale-like episode. This movement is an ingenious
piece of no little compositional virtuosity. It calls also for pianistic
virtuosity and Barry Douglas seems to me to meet all these demands. His
is a compelling and highly impressive account of the whole sonata.
Having written three piano sonatas between 1851 and 1853 Brahms never
returned to the form, preferring instead either variation form or small-scale
individual pieces, albeit grouped into sets, when writing for the solo
piano. Perhaps, as Calum MacDonald suggests, he had said all he wanted
to say in sonata form when it came to solo piano music.
Most of the rest of Barry Douglas’s programme comes from those late
sets of pieces that comprise Opp. 116-119. He does, however, include another
two of the four Ballades, Op. 10 - Op. 10/4 was included in Volume 1.
Like the fourth movement of the Sonata, Op. 10/3 carries the title ‘Intermezzo’
and once again it may be felt to be something of a misnomer for the piece
opens with music that is restlessly energetic. The piece has a tripartite
form with a lighter trio which achieves an almost ghostly end in this
performance. That’s ideal because the following reprise of the opening
material is much more subdued in volume. Like the sonata movement it’s
a strange piece - Schumann told Brahms that he found it ‘demonic’
- and Barry Douglas plays it with fine imagination.
His selection also includes the lyrical Op. 116/6, which he plays with
excellent feeling. I also liked his way with Op. 117/2. This contains
a good deal of liquid, graceful music though the pianist also has to bring
out the inner strength that’s in the music at times. There’s
both delicacy and depth in Barry Douglas’s playing. By contrast
Op. 118/3 is, for much of the time, bolder and stronger in tone and Douglas
gives it excellent rhythmical energy. The central section moves into calmer
waters - via a slightly surprising key change - and this is another place
in this recital where the pianist’s lyrical strengths show through.
This is another very fine Brahms recital from Barry Douglas. He seems
to me to have the measure of the music, whether Brahms is in robust or
autumnal mood, and it goes without saying that he has the full technical
range to enable him to master the pianistic challenges as well as the
interpretative ones. The recording was made in the same venue as Volume
1 and, I suspect, using the same Steinway. The recorded sound - and the
instrument - seem ideally suited to this music. As I said earlier, the
notes are excellent.
With two volumes now under his belt I think it can safely be said that
this is shaping up to be an excellent survey of the Brahms solo piano
music and I hope the next instalment will be with us soon.
John Quinn
A second fine instalment in Barry Douglas’s survey of Brahms’s solo piano music.
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A second fine instalment in Barry Douglas’s survey of Brahms’s
solo piano music.