Claude DEBUSSY (1861-1918)
Suite Bergamasque: Clair de Lune, L75 [5:44]
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Nocturne in D-flat, Op. 27/2 [6:05]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Für Elise (Bagatelle in a minor, WoO59) [3:00]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
The Seasons, Op.37b: October (‘Autumn Song’) [4:54]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Impromptu in E-flat, D899/2 [4:51]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Kinderszenen, Op.15: Traümerei [2:43]
Arabeske in C, Op.18 [6:59]
Franz SCHUBERT
Impromptu in G-flat, D899/3 [7:38]
Frédéric CHOPIN
Nocturne in c sharp minor, Op. posth. [3:57]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Twelve Variations on Ah! Vous dirais-je, maman, K265 [9:04]
Myung-Whun Chung (piano)
rec. Teatro la Fenice, Venice, July 2013. DDD
ECM NEW SERIES 2342 (4810765) [54:55]
Although we normally think of Myung-Whun Chung as a conductor, this album
of popular piano pieces reminds us what a fine and thoughtful pianist
he is. We are also reminded that Chung began his career as a pianist,
winning second prize in the 1974 Tchaikovsky competition.
The first piece, Clair de lune, starts very slowly but Chung
soon moves forward with an effective, but seemingly carefully calculated
rubato. The performance feels carefully structured in terms of
dynamics and rubato, everything is well-balanced and the pedalling
is just right. I don’t feel the sense of carefree abandon which
lends many performances that sense of loss of direction. This is well
played indeed and very much to my liking.
Chopin’s D flat Nocturne, Op. 27 No.2, follows and there is beautiful
and stylish playing here. All is well and subtly controlled, Chung produces
an attractive tone, plays with great delicacy where required and builds
to an excellent climax. There is so much clarity here but I just find
the semiquaver accompaniment a bit ‘notey’. Further on Chopin’s
Nocturne in C sharp minor is also attractively played with seemingly perfect
rubato and building well to the gentle climaxes. Chung always
moves forward without the sentimentality we often hear in this piece.
I wonder why he pedals through the rests in the two bars of introduction
and why he lifts the pedal, creating a strange jerkiness in the passage
immediately before the return of the main theme.
Für Elise is taken fairly quickly and it has just enough
rubato to make this performance very effective. Tchaikovsky’s
Autumn Song is a beautiful little gem, reminiscent of Chopin
and full of nostalgia and pathos in Chung’s hands. This performance
is for my money the most perfectly and beautifully played piece on the
CD. His account of Schubert’s Impromptu in E flat major shows us
that Chung has lost none of his finger dexterity during the years he has
been concentrating on his conducting career. I found the outer sections
too quick for my taste – it is marked allegro not prestissimo.
In spite of the speed and generous pedalling, every note can be heard
with great clarity. In contrast, later on the disc we here the G flat
major impromptu played at a good tempo with eloquence and expressivity.
Chung’s pedalling allows for crystal clarity, but this can make
the constantly-moving quaver accompaniment sound a bit ‘notey’,
as mentioned before regarding the Chopin. Also this draws our attention
to the occasional quaver which doesn’t quite sound or not perhaps
as Chung intended.
Schumann’s Träumerei is given a simple but elegant
performance, not over-romanticised, and this is followed by a fine account
of the Arabesque with its extraordinary and unexpected conclusion.
Chung gives an excellent performance with great attention to detail, including
the passages where the bass line becomes staccato.
Finally Myung-Whun Chung demonstrates his excellent credentials as a player
in the Classical style in Mozart’s Variations on Ah! vous dirai-je,
Maman. Each of the ten variations is characterfully played, often
with great wit and humour.
Although the pieces on this disc are very well-known, short and comparatively
slight in emotional range, Chung nevertheless takes them all very seriously.
His interpretations appear deeply thought out and the result of many years
of experience in serious music-making. Chung’s performances are
always thought-provoking and this is a very attractive and well-recorded
collection.
Geoffrey Molyneux
A short postscript. The album can be downloaded for £4.20 from emusic.com,
mp3 only and, as usual from this source, not at the best of bit-rates
– as low as 180kb/s for the opening Clair de Lune. The
sound is perfectly tolerable, even heard through good audio equipment.
You will have to pay more than twice that amount to obtain the best mp3
or m4a, at 320kb/s, from 7digital.com.
Like Geoff Molyneux, I at first thought there was a bit too much of the
lune and not enough of the clair about the opening piece.
Although Chung clocks in at 5:44 overall for a piece which usually takes
a little over four minutes, matters soon improve and the attractions outweigh
any small reservations. Pieces like Träumerei are especially
well served.
Perhaps the closing Mozart variations on the tune known in Anglophone
countries as Twinkle, twinkle, little star, are taken a little
too seriously at the outset. Then you remember that part of the fun of
Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Tune is that
the work starts portentously – maestoso – before
breaking into this same cheeky little tune.
Fans of Myung-Whun Chung’s conducting may be interested to note
that his recording of Saint-Saëns Samson et Dalila (EMI/Warner
– review
of earlier reissue), widely regarded as the best available, can be downloaded
in 320kb/s mp3 from sainsburysentertainment.co.uk
for just £6.99 and 12 Nectar points for UK customers. Expect a review
in a forthcoming DL News.
Brian Wilson
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