Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Liebestraum in A flat major - Notturno S541/3 [5:28]
Piano Sonata in B minor
S178 [30:58]
Mephisto Waltz No.1 (The Dance at the Village Inn) S514 [11:02]
La Lugubre Gondola S200/2 [9:39]
Prelude & Fugue in A minor S462/1 (after Bach BWV543) [10:00]
Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)
rec. Meistersaal, Köthener Str. Berlin Germany 10-15 October 2010
SONY CLASSICAL 88697766042 [67:07]
Having been thrilled, intrigued, challenged and even confounded
by Khatia Buniatishvili's recent disc of Mussorgsky' Pictures
at an Exhibition (review),
I was pleased to get the opportunity to hear this Liszt recital which a sticker
on the cover proudly proclaims as "The sensational debut album"
and further quotes the Times critic "A manic maelstrom of musical energy."
One thing that forcefully strikes me on both discs is the sheer confidence
of the playing. This is love-me-or-leave-me music making and not for a quiet
evening in with the lights down low and the music murmuring away gently in
the background. Confident too to present a recording of Liszt's mighty
and daunting B minor Sonata on your debut disc. Not only is it one of the
most technically challenging works in the repertoire but in one fell swoop
you are setting up comparisons with just about every great pianist of the
last 150 years. Another quote on the disc's cover is from Buniatishvili
herself; "I was always aware that my first recording had to be a portrait
of Liszt. Only he would enable me to present as a unity the many aspects of
my soul." If I knew what that meant I might well agree - Buniatishvili
is a child of the Social Media Age where such confessionals seem de rigueur.
As I wrote previously, I have no need to know what motivates a musician's
performing decisions because what chimes with them is unlikely to chime with
me too. In 1901 Mahler is quoted as saying; "Let the public form its
own thoughts about the work being played, not be forced to read someone else's
prejudgements while they are listening..." [quoted in Mahler Remembered
- edited by Norman Lebrecht page 126].
In the liner, Buniatishvili elaborates on the germinal idea behind this programme
being a multi-faceted treatment of the Faust Legend and the three principal
characters of Marguerite, Faust and Mephisto. Hence the opening A flat Liebstraum
is a presented as a portrait of beauty and love as embodied by Marguerite.
Whatever the 'concept' it makes for a very beautiful and poised
opening to the recital and serves as a timely reminder that while Buniatishvili
is noted for her "manic maelstroms" in fact a particularly strong
facet of her playing is a meltingly lyrical touch. Some might find the phrasing
too blurred and the sustain peddle over used but I like the dream-like radiance
she achieves.
As mentioned, the B minor Sonata is a mighty work in every sense, so mighty
that no single interpretation can ever expect to address every aspect. For
sure Buniatishvili possesses a technique that seems utterly unfazed by any
demands the piece makes. It’s important, while still reeling from this
staggering virtuoso display, to acknowledge that she is by no means the first
or last to be able to play the piece with such seeming ease. It calls into
question what exactly we mean by the concept of virtuosity. Too often I suspect
it means velocity as much as anything else: the Latin root implies more "skilled,
learned, of exceptional worth." By that definition I would categorise
Buniatishvili as a virtuoso albeit one with a pre-disposition to velocity
too! In compositional terms the Liszt Sonata broke new ground by being written
in one vast thirty minute unbroken arch as well as deriving most of the thematic
material from various little motifs set out in the opening pages and returned
to in the closing. Take the very first notes - repeated low G's across
two octaves. Liszt marks them sotto voce (literally under your voice
-'whispered') but with a dagger articulation which indicates
short and sharp. Tricky to achieve that within the whispered dynamic but Buniatishvili
succeeds perfectly. In doing so it gives the music a sense of anticipation,
of gathering of resources which opens the work superbly. In just those three
repeated chords she captures the mood better than the likes of Cziffra, Argerich,
Pollini, Arrau to name but four. By highlighting this utterly simple moment
I want to reinforce the point that Buniatishvili is a highly intelligent,
questioning performer, a fact that is lost as much by her own PR machine as
it is by affronted critics. Her performance does not displace or diminish
any of those other great versions - but it does deserve consideration alongside
them.
Rather counter-intuitively for a review of a recording, I wonder if Buniatishvili
is an artist best appreciated in live concert. She is never afraid to make
bold and often surprising choices many of which 'work' in a
revelatory way. By definition, heard once in the concert hall, these choices
delight, intrigue or occasionally irritate but are then no more than memories.
With a CD, for good or ill the element of surprise is lost and when there
are the occasional moments of dislike they tend to loom on the listening horizon.
What is forgiven in the concert hall becomes an irritant on disc. My sense
with this performance of the Liszt is that its strength as a performance is
with the sheer flamboyance and brilliance of the playing. Stand any page or
passage toe to toe with other versions and Buniatishvili is their equal. Where
she is currently less successful is in navigating the half-hour structure
as a coherent whole. Even with repeated, greatly enjoyed, listening, I am
not sure where Buniatishvili thinks the whole piece leads to and from. Climaxes,
of which there are many, seem equally volcanic so that by the end one feels
rather punched out. Of course, there is room for this kind of high-octane
approach, and again important to note how beautifully executed the corresponding
reposeful pages are delivered, but for more considered and cerebral versions
look elsewhere.
Immediately after the Sonata comes the Mephisto Waltz No.1. I must
admit this has never been one of my favourite Liszt works but it seems perfectly
attuned to Buniatishvili's blend of bravura and dexterity. From there
on, the remainder of the programme shows the more reflective side of Buniatishvili's
musical personality to impressive effect. La lugubre gondola II is
a strangely elusive and modernist work, although the confusingly numbered
later revision 'I' is even more so. After the thick textural
complexities of the Sonata and the overt display of the Waltz this is a piece
of sparse yet pained emotion which rises to one agonised fff climax.
Quite how this fits into the Faustian programme I am not sure given the work's
genesis as a memorial to Wagner. Just six pages of score translates into nearly
ten minutes of music in Buniatishvili's hands - Brendel and Paul Lewis,
for example, play it in just over seven - so even here it can be heard that
Buniatishvili is challenging convention. But returning to my definition of
a virtuoso this is the performance on this disc where I feel Buniatishvili
earns the accolade of skilled, learned, of exceptional worth.
The combination of poise and power - when required - is compelling. Even at
the slow and extended tempi Buniatishvili is able to sustain musical phrases
superbly imbuing them with the sorrowing pain that surely Liszt intended.
A remarkable work performed with hypnotic power and for me the highlight of
the disc.
Closing the disc with a Prelude and Fugue after Bach again seems to bear little
relation to the overall concept but instead is a very beautiful envoi - after
the dramas of the Sonata and the austerity of La lugubre gondola
the purity and absolute music of this Prelude and Fugue seems wholly appropriate.
Since this is Liszt after Bach Buniatishvili plays it with a degree
of rhythmic freedom that is authentically Romantic rather than Baroque. Certainly,
I would love to hear her play more Bach/Busoni for example.
The presentation of the disc is very much a star vehicle for the pianist.
There are no less than some 17 different images of Buniatishvili adorning
the liner, including one with a poorly Photoshopped-in swan. The remainder
consists of various gnomic statements from Buniatishvili; apropos the La
lugubre gondola -"this work is, like death, atonal ...". Sigfried
Schibli contributes a more standard liner note about the composer and the
works. Technically, the disc is well recorded, the uncredited piano recorded
with warmth and detail placed reasonably close in a generous but not over
resonant acoustic. Where the engineering is particularly successful is allowing
the listener to hear startlingly clear levels of inner articulation that Buniatishvili
is able to bring to even the thickest and most complex of textures; at times
there is a laser-like clarity and precision to passages which in other hands
are bravura blurs.
Admirers of Khatia Buniatishvili the pianist and personality will find much
to enjoy here, as indeed I did. Possibly, just possibly, when the record companies
make less of a fuss over the superficial glamour of Buniatishvili musically
and visually then her true stature as a player of remarkable insight and skill
will emerge. At her best, as demonstrated here, she is a player who commands
very serious attention.
Nick Barnard
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