Recording Review #39: Deserving Dariescu

Clara Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7; Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16. Alexandra Dariescu, pianist; Tianyi Lu, conductor; Philharmonia Orchestra. Signum Classics SIGCD 799. 

One of my issues with contemporary promotion of women composers is how indiscriminate the particularly zealous often are when it comes to "the music itself." Some of them seem so busy counting female names on concert programs etc. that they don't have much time for other considerations. Sometimes I try to imagine a future where these people get everything they apparently want, including seasons full of major-musician and major-ensemble concerts with nothing but works by women programmed. DECADES, even CENTURIES of this...you know, to make up for the ages of nothing but performances of male-composer works at these venues. Suppose that this battle they're fighting can actually be won. So much music by once-neglected women composers would get heard that they'd eventually have to start worrying about what gets repeated and what doesn't. How might they contend with the inevitability that favorites would start to emerge, and new canons formed, entirely within the world of female-created music? If women composers could somehow finally achieve desired equity with male ones, could questions of comparative musical merit among just themselves be avoided? Or would political intersectionality then be redeployed in some form to police any emergent natural enthusiasm?

These are some of the thoughts that crossed my mind as I listened to this new recording of Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto. In truth, I'm somewhat sorry they did. Because if this concerto deserves one thing, it's to be listened to for its considerable intrinsic qualities rather than according to the dubious advocacy of zealots whose "virtues" Clara herself wouldn't recognize. Is it music worthy of being in the classical music canon? It's at least darned close, and definitely worth repeated performances. Its craft is impressive, and some of the melodies, harmonic progressions, and turns of phrase are gorgeous. That it's the product of a young teenager living in a world cruel to women composers is frankly astonishing. Given the high level of this and other music Clara managed to produce, before her motherhood and support of her husband's career took over, I would not be surprised if some alternate reality (where she kept composing seriously) showed her becoming a canon composer in spite of steep obstacles. 

A search for "Clara Schumann Piano Concerto" at Presto Music shows that there are already a considerable number of recordings, dwarving the amount received by similar compositions of other women composers. There's no doubt about it: Clara's Op. 7 is already a favorite among this group. (From a purely musical standpoint it deserves to be!) I won't pretend to have heard the entire catalogue, but I did sample 5 or 6 recordings beyond the Naxos one with which I had already been familiar (8.557552). To my ears, Dariescu & Co.'s stiffest competition is Howard Shelley's account with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, which is part of No. 78 in Hyperion's ongoing Romantic Piano Concerto series (CDA68240). Shelley's may still be my favorite, with an appreciable spirit matched by a rich tone I've always admired. But Dariescu's performance is also superb, and some listeners may justifiably prefer it instead. More than almost all of her competition, her admirable passion is equaled by a wonderful technical control of articulation and dynamics. Most competing recordings lack her high standard in one aspect or the other. Clara Concerto fans will definitely want this one on their shelves, and other listeners ought to as well. 

Pairing the much-loved Grieg Concerto with Clara's is a bold and interesting move. They do evoke similarities: they're obviously both in A Minor, they're both early works in their respective catalogues, and their composers both unfortunately started but didn't finish Second Concertos. It's also clear that Grieg's is being used to help promote Clara's. Which is fine, and I hope the tactic works. But while the Grieg performance here is quite solid, there's simply too much superlative competition for me to recommend this recording on that basis alone. I find Dariescu's sharper-edged pianism more suited to other music. My own ideal Grieg needs a fairy-tale sensibility...and there are plenty such options I could recommend. But, you might better like Dariescu's particular sound in this music. It's purely a preference thing. 

Folks, I'm always going to call it like I see it on this blog. I may be wrong sometimes, but I'm not afraid of crossing powerful personalities or lobbies when I think I'm right. I'm also committed to putting aside my ideological and emotional impulses in trying my best to give credit where it's due. (Maybe I won't always succeed.) I may find the social justice warriors misguided and at times annoying. But that doesn't mean they're always backing losers just because they back them for reasons I don't like. They're not always wrong about grievances in the classical world either. Taking things on an individual basis helps cut through the political garbage. In that spirit, please buy or at least listen to this fine recording of some terrific music. 

Warmly Recommended

Recording Review #23: Good Grieg

 

Grieg: Holberg Suite; Ballade; Lyric Pieces (selections). Andrey Gugnin, piano. Hyperion CDA68424. 

Assessments of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) usually go something like this, complete with wagging jowls: "[HARUMPH!] Grieg had not that rarefied genius to place him on Mount Olympus with fellow Romantic composers Wagner and Brahms, but in his own small way he was a notable 19th-century composer." 

👎👎👎👎

Poppycock. It's the kind of blinkered thinking that comes from critics and academics for whom radical innovation and large-scale form are everything. In terms of melody, atmosphere, and unmistakable stamp of personality, Grieg was one of the very best. Of course, these things have counted less with "experts" burdened by eccentric priorities. But as David Hurwitz has shrewdly said, "musicology doesn't know what to do with a good tune." Indeed. 

But practically everyone else does, and that's why Grieg's music still gets lots of love and exposure more than a century on from his death. It's also why there is no shortage of recordings to choose from, including those of his solo piano music. Andrey Gugnin, then, faces formidable competition from a host of fine options available to listeners. All the more so because he has picked some of the most popular works to perform: the Holberg Suite, and the Opp. 43 and 62 sets of Lyric Pieces. 

So how does he fare? For the most part very well. Gugnin feels this music in all the right ways. His tempi are perfect, and his dynamics are extremely well executed throughout. Particularly gorgeous are the "Air" from the Holberg Suite (the very soul of that work) and "To Spring" from the Op. 43 miniatures. For some reason, too many pianists ruin the latter with too much speed and/or passion. But Gugnin treats it tenderly, like the flower it is. Exquisite stuff!

I won't lie, the Ballade has never been my favorite work by Grieg. Compared to these other pieces, I think the inspiration flags just a tad here. But Gugnin is every bit up to giving it a sympathetic reading. What helps is that he brings a kaleidoscope of tone colors to the task, which we hear straightaway in the theme, never mind a whole range of little shadings to follow in the variations. 

Here is a release that holds its own in distinguished company: Andsnes, Gilels, Gavrilov, etc. And while Gugnin VEEEEERY occasionally lacks their "pop," it's not enough to keep this release from being a firm buy for the Grieg fan and beyond. 

Highly Recommended