Complete Piano Music Vol. 36: Wagner Transcriptions
Zwei Stücke aus Tannhäuser und Lohengrin, S445/R278 (1852)
No. 2 Elsas Brautzug zum Münster [6:34]
Isoldes Liebestod aus Tristan und Isolde, S447/R280 (1867) [7:18]
Phantasiestück über Motive aus Rienzi Santo Spirito cavaliere, S439/R272 (1859) [9:00]
Pilgerchor aus dem Oper Tannhäuser, S443/R276 (c. 1861) [5:15]
Aus Lohengrin, S446/R279 (1854)
No. 1 Festspiel und Brautlied [11:29]
No. 2 Lohengrins Verweis [4:24]
Spinnerlied aus dem Fliegenden Holländer, S440/R273 (1860) [6:21]
Ballade aus dem Fliegenden Holländer, S441/R274 (publ. 1873) [4:53]
Aus Lohengrin, S446/R279 (1854)
No. 2 Elsas Traum [4:05]
Feierlicher Marsch zum heiligen Gral aus Parsifal, S450/R283 (1862) [10:38]
William Wolfram (piano)
rec. 20-21 May 2011, Glenn Gould Studio, CBC, Toronto, Canada
NAXOS 8.572895 [69:57]
Just in time to sneak in this review as the epic Wagner centenary draws
to a close. On the transcription front - for piano at least - I much enjoyed
Risto-Matti Marin’s fine collection, which contains just two of the
pieces on this Wolfram CD (review).
I first encountered William Wolfram in Liszt/Donizetti - and very good he
is too (review).
If anything I was even more impressed with his Liszt/Bellini (review).
This corner of Naxos’s mammoth Liszt series has also produced other
sets of transcriptions; among them is Stefan Mayer’s disc, which I
found ‘beautiful, but lacking in soul’ (review).
Indeed, I wrote there that I’d rather hear Wolfram in this repertoire.
They say we should be careful what we wish for. My initial response to this
new disc was somewhat mixed; the power is there, but the poetry of Wolfram’s
earlier CDs is harder to find. Elsa’s bridal procession, which starts
well enough, is more muted and discursive than I’d expected. Also,
his articulation isn’t as crisp as before, and textures seem a bit
clotted too. What I miss most is that long, seamless line, the blend of
anticipation and conflict that Liszt encapsulates so well. Cranking up the
volume to suggest dramatic intensity is only half the story, and I suspect
that’s all we get here. Ditto the Tristan, which is apt to
turn in on itself rather than move inexorably towards those ambiguous final
cadences.
That’s not to say there’s no magic here at all, it’s just
that it tends to get lost amidst all that posturing. The sound is perfecly
decent, although other recordings I’ve heard from the CBC studio -
Wolfram’s especially - are more ingratiating. Back to the music, and
the Rienzi piece is rather lovely; it would be even more appealing
if Wolfram phrased more sensitively and refrained from those annoying agogic
pauses. Liszt has done all the work, so it’s really not necessary
to embellish or underline the music in this way.
The Pilgrim’s Chorus from Tannhäuser certainly has the
right devotional character, and Wolfram shapes and shades the music very
well indeed. He also gets more of a sense of progress, of that long dramatic
arch, and only spoils the effect slightly by sounding too excitable in the
climaxes. Marin scales his Liszt/Wagner with far greater sensitivity and
teases out the music’s buried colours to glorious effect. Admittedly
Alba’s highly sophisticated Super Audio recording is a bonus. As for
the Lohengrin transcriptions they are serviceable, but there’s
a persistent - and frustrating - sense of the music being held at arm’s-length.
Wolfram just isn’t as communicative here as I know he can be, and
that’s a pity. Still, the Spinning Chorus from Der Fliegender Holländer
has much to commend it; if only the playing weren’t compromised by
all those irritating mannerisms. Marin’s reading is altogether more
rewarding, not least for its rhythmic felicities. Speaking of which Wolfram
is a tad unyielding in Elsa’s Dream from Lohengrin and the
march from Parsifal; indeed, the latter is perhaps more somnolent
than solemn, and it brings the disc to a somewhat unsatisfactory close.
As much as I admire Wolfram as a pianist this is a curiously uninvolving
recital. At least Marin’s disc is a cause for celebration; apart from
its many musical and sonic virtues it offers less-well-known transcriptions
by other hands as well.
Musically this isn’t as good as Wolfram’s earlier discs; ditto
the sonics.
Dan Morgan
http://twitter.com/mahlerei
Musically this isn’t as good as Wolfram’s earlier discs; ditto
the sonics.
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