Norma Fisher at the BBC - Volume 2
Norma Fisher (piano)
rec. 1969-85
SONETTO CLASSICS SONCLA004 [57:57 + 56:45]
On the back of the success of Volume 1, lauded by such distinguished publications as the Gramophone, Sonetto Classics have issued a follow up featuring more BBC recordings set down by the English pianist Norma Fisher. Whereas the first volume, which I reviewed, concentrated on Brahms and Scriabin, this later one focuses on Liszt, Schumann, Debussy and, surprisingly, music by the Polish composer and pianist André Tchaikowsky, a composer Fisher fervently championed.
Norma Fisher was born in London in 1940 and studied under Sidney Harrison, Ilona Kabos and Jacques Février. She was a prize winner in the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition and the 1963 Harriet Cohen International Piano Awards, the latter prize she shared with Vladimir Ashkenazy. Her career was halted in the 1990s when she developed focal dystonia in her right arm, a terrible condition that fellow pianists Leon Fleisher and Gary Graffman were similarly afflicted with. Whilst they adapted and resumed their careers in a limited way, Norma channeled her superlative musical gifts into teaching. For some reason, she’d been undeservedly sidelined by the record companies, so there’s no commercial discography for us to savour and celebrate her fine artistry. Thankfully, the BBC championed her, and she made numerous broadcasts over the years both in the studio and several times at the Henry Wood Promenade concerts. It’s from this legacy that Sonetto Classics have sourced this tranche of previously unreleased broadcast material.
Franz Liszt is the subject of CD 1, and Fisher opens her 1985 recital with a devilish performance of the Mephisto Waltz No. 1, originally known as ‘Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke’ (The Dance in the Village Inn), fully projecting the diablerie and roister of the music. Yet, in common with all successful performances of this score, William Kappel’s 1945 account being ne plus ultra, Fisher withdraws into a seductively dreamy world of reflection in the central Espressivo amoroso episode. Venezia e Napoli was published in 1861 as a 'supplement' to the Italian volume of Années de pèlerinage, and the three pieces (Gondoliera, Canzone, and Tarantella) have gained much popularity over the years. Fisher brings freshness and inspiration to all three. I particularly single out the magical lilting barcarolle rhythmn of Gondoliera, and the spirited animation of the Tarantella. Next, the pianist performs two of the composers 12 Transcendental Études. No. 10 in F minor is referred to as Appassionata and is one of the most regularly performed of the set, distinguished by a prominent melody. Fisher accords it razor-sharp precision. The fourth study, Mazeppa, is dramatic and passionate, incorporating dashing octaves and dexterous scale runs. These are dispatched with consummate ease and authority. Of the two transcriptions, the Schubert/Liszt Ständchen (Horch, horch die Lerch) is both elegant and exquitely sculpted.
Concision, gesture and ardor characterize Schumann’s Piano Sonata No.2. Fisher’s performance embraces the work’s wide-ranging sentiments, from rapt emotion to potent dramatic intensity. The slow movement’s reflective melancholy is dominated by the personality of Eusebius, whereas the other three movements reflect the reverse of the coin, Florestan, the embodiment of the composer’s passionate and impetuous side. It’s interesting that Fisher performs the original finale. The composer later replaced it with a less technically demanding one at his wife’s request.
Debussy is represented by three études from his Douze Études of 1915. They were set down by Fisher on 2 February 1979 in a recital titled ‘Brahms and Debussy’. The Brahms items, two sets of variations, feature in Norma Fisher at the BBC Volume 1. Fisher is fastidious in her approach to these adventurous and intriguing pieces, fully matching their descriptive titles and the composer’s scrupulous directions with her formidable virtuosity.
André Tchaikowsky’s ten Inventions, Op. 2 date from 1961-62. The composer’s publisher asked Fisher to give the first public performance of them at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London after the composer’s untimely death from cancer in 1982. Each is dedicated to one of the composer’s friends, reflecting the individual character of each. In this performance from March 1984, Fisher adds an eleventh Invention, which Tchaikowsky had discarded. The pieces are brief and succinct, and are clearly influenced by the music of Shostakovich, Bartók, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. They have since been recorded by Jakob Fichert on the Toccata label, which I reviewed back in 2014.
This intriguing release provides a valuable repository of some superior pianism, all the more precious in light of an absence of a commercial discography. The recordings, which derive from reel-to-reel tapes from the pianist’s own personal archive and a cassette tape housed in the British Library, have scrubbed up well in these remasterings, transferred at 24bit/96kHz or 24bit/192kHz. Admittedly there’s some variation in quality across the board depending on the condition of the source material; I found that the Debussy items were a little below par in this regard. The booklet notes, in English and Japanese, are excellent in providing a comprehensive overview.
Stephen Greenbank
Previous review: Rob Challinor
Contents
CD1 [57:57]
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Mephisto waltz 1 (1859-61)[11:25]
Années de Pèlerinage, supplement aux Années de Pèlerinage 2de Volume: Venezia e Napoli (1859)
I Gondoliera [5:39]
II Canzone [3:39]
III Tarantella [9:47]
Études d'exécution transcendente (1851)
10 F minor, allegro agitato molto [5:03]
4 D minor, Mazeppa [7:47]
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) arr. Franz LISZT
Danse macabre (1876)[11:13]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) arr. Franz LISZT
Lieder der Schubert No.9, Ständchen (Horch, horch die Lerch) (1837-38)[3:24]
CD2 [56:45]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Sonata 2 in G minor, Op.22 (1833-35) with original finale [20:57]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Douze Études (1915)
Book 1/No.1 Pour les “cinq doigts”- d'après Monsieur Czerny [3:50]
Book 2/No.7 Pour les degrés chromatiques [2:18]
Book 2/No. 11 Pour des arpèges composés [5:33]
André TCHAIKOWSKY (1935-1982)
Inventions op2 (1961-62)
Invention 1 Peter Feuchtwenger [1:30]
Invention 2 Fou Ts'ong [1:37]
Invention 3 Ilona Kabos [0:52]
Invention 4 Robert Cornford [1:22]
Invention 5b Patrick Crommelynck [2:36]
Invention 6 Stefan Askenase [2:38]
Invention 5b Charles and Lydia Napper [2:27]
Invention 7 Tamás Vásáry [2:09]
Invention 8 Sheldon and Alicia Rich [1:10]
Invention 9 Wendy – or Beatrice? - Harthan [1:28]
Invention 10 Michael Riddall [6:18]
Liszt Mephisto waltz 1, Venezia e Napoli, Études rec. 1985 BBC Bristol 1st broadcast 24-05-1985
Saint-Saëns/Liszt, Schubert/Liszt rec. 1969-70 BBC Maida Vale 1st broadcast 15-08-1970
Schumann, Tchaikowsky rec. 1984 BBC Maida Vale 1st broadcast 01-03-1984
Debussy rec. 1979 BBC Maida Vale 1st broadcast 02-02-1979
Postscript
In 2013, Toccata Press published book about André Tchaikowsky, which I had the good fortune to review. It gives some interesting insights into this unique pianist and composer.
