Now from Decca, to
mark Freire’s 70th birthday year, comes the first issue in a projected cycle of
the Beethoven piano concertos again with Freire, Chailly and the Leipzig
orchestra.
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Nelson Freire is set to perform Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto on tour in Mexico and
South America with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy (9-17th
September 2014). He returns to the work for concerts in St. Petersburg with Valery
Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra (12 & 14 October) and at London’s
Barbican Centre with the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda (2nd
November). Freire’s 2014/15 season also includes a recital at the Salle Pleyel,
Paris (15th November) and performances of Chopin’s Piano Concerto
No. 2 in Zurich with the Tonhalle Orchestra and Lionel Bringuier.
In the Allegro of
the Emperor
Concerto Chailly draws some lovely opening chords from the
Gewandhausorchester as Freire enters with nicely paced and phrased flourishes.
There is a litheness to the orchestral playing with nicely done timpani
support. Dynamics well controlled developing an underlying tension. When Freire
re-enters there is a sense of stillness around the soloist as he brings a
considered calm with beautifully nuanced playing, full of poetry. There are
passages of vibrancy and passion set against the still, poetic passages and some
lovely crystalline beauty. Freire has a beautiful touch, displaying so much
delicacy. Yet he can be as dramatic as any when called upon and, indeed, moves
from dramatic to poetic seamlessly. Later there are some terrific passages from
Freire, full of brilliance and bravura and some terrific rising scales towards
the coda.
There is a calm from the wonderful strings of the Gewandhausorchester
as the Adagio un poco mosso arrives
with Freire, when he enters, drawing so much gentle poetry from the music. The
combination of Freire’s fine sensibility and touch and the lovely Gewandhausorchester
sonorities is beguiling, gently and finely conceived, an oasis of calm. The finale has a finely poised entry into a
beautifully sprung Rondo: Allegro
with Chailly giving a lovely rhythmic lift to the Gewandhausorchester’s
phrases. Freire’s sprung rhythms are beautifully phrased. Chailly and his
orchestra are able to produce muscular playing yet tempered by sensitivity. This
is a performance of many subtleties, contrasting poetry and drama. The piano is
set slightly forward but not to the detriment of balance. Some details come strikingly
through the orchestral texture.
With the C minor Piano
Sonata Freire brings a resounding drama to the opening of the Maestoso with some lovely rounded
phrases, soon offset by thoughtful poetry bringing out Beethoven’s darkness. He
soon moves forward in the Allegro con
brio ed appassionato Allegro with a thrust as he provides some terrific playing,
full of fire and drama with fine phrasing, pacing and dynamics. Freire picks up
on Beethoven’s jagged phrasing, rhythms and sudden mood changes so well.
Freire brings his withdrawn poetry to Beethoven’s slow
finale Arietta: Adagio molto, semplice e
cantabile though he gently picks up the tempo providing more of a flow with
a lovely rise and fall. Freire moves so naturally into every variation, change
of tempo and, indeed, mood. There are some formidably played passages, played
with great clarity, seamlessly linked to the most poetic and sensitive of
moments. Towards the end there are some gorgeous passages so sensitively and
finely handled, with such a fine touch.
This performance of the last sonata has made me want to
investigate Freire’s earlier recordings of Beethoven sonatas for Decca that
includes the Moonlight, the Waldstein and les Adieux. Freire is nicely recorded with full tone and presence. The
booklet notes take the form of an interview with Nelson Freire by James Jolly
giving a brief insight into his ideas.
This release bodes well for a very fine and distinctive
cycle from these artists.
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