Schubert: Piano Sonata in G, D. 894; Moments musicaux, D. 780; Fantasia in F Minor for Piano Duet, D. 940. Maurizio and Daniele Pollini, pianists. Deutsche Grammophon 486 639-8.
The strangest concert I ever attended was also the saddest. It must have been in 2007 or so, while I was in graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Byron Janis was one of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts' top season billings. I had known that the 70-something pianist long since developed psoriatic arthritis, but I was nonetheless eager to hear such a legendary figure perform live. To be honest, I don't even remember which pieces he played. Nothing sticks in my recollection except what actually happened when he got onstage. The poor man looked like he could barely move his neck, shoulders, wrists, and fingers. His impairments were clear for everyone to see. Everything he played was severely affected to the point where nothing came close to sounding like it should have; even the least musically literate audience members could easily tell this. Moreover, it wasn't a traditional concert so much as a running commentary. He would attempt to play each short selection while verbally regaling the audience (in a shaky voice) with anecdotes about when he performed it as a healthy artist in his halcyon days. Often he talked as he played, or paused to somehow illustrate a passage mid-stream. Nobody who attended this "concert" seemed to mind missing a genuine listening experience next to feeling pity for the fellow.
True, nothing comparably unfortunate characterizes this last studio recording by the late Maurizio Pollini. But as I listened to the Schubert G-Major Sonata here I somehow kept remembering that Janis concert. We're missing the Pollini of old, whose incomparable tone, technique, and control won him a place among the greats. Instead we have dynamic imbalances, under- and over-played notes, and slightly shaky pedaling. Still, I wouldn't call it bad. There are also flashes of the former brilliance. A certain autumnal quality goes hand-in-hand with an intact musical sense. But compared to his magnificent Schubert recordings of yore (I absolutely adore DG 471 356-2), this D. 894 is in a decidedly lower category. And yet I wouldn't want to be without it. Maurizio Pollini has been one of my favorite pianists since I first discovered classical music. I cut my teeth on his revered Chopin Etudes, one of the first discs I ever bought (DG 413 794-2). My feelings are bittersweet.
But now we come to the Moments musicaux, which are not played by Maurizio but rather by his son Daniele. It's clear that the younger man espouses a more outwardly emotional pianism than that of his distinguished father. Luckily he also seems to inherit some of the latter's sensitivity. These are fine performances, with lovely tone and accentuations of inner voices. I don't know how high they'll soar in the affections of listeners, given such steep competition in the catalogue. But Daniele is a fine pianist in his own right, and his take on these pieces deserves to be heard. He merits consideration beyond being the son of a musical titan.
Son and father (in that order) of course join up at the end for the famous four-hand Fantasy. I was ready to call it wonderful until the finale. The sounds of these two pianists merge well. Maurizio wisely relegates himself to the secondo part. But the pair take the quick closing section too quickly. The sharpness of the earlier portions recedes as they blur some details and occasionally lose "togetherness." It would have been a tall order for them to match the exalted 1984 performance by Murray Perahia and Radu Lupu (Sony SK 39511), particularly with a post-80 Maurizio. But it's nonetheless unfortunate that a solid outing became less so at the end. Overall we have a performance with special moments, and certainly special symbolism in one generation giving way to another. But it's a qualified success all the same. And that's really where we are with the entire release.
Verdict: Wistfully Recommended
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