British pianist James
Brawn http://jamesbrawn.com has brought
us four formidable recordings in his cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas, A Beethoven
Odyssey for MSR Classics www.msrcd.com .
Such is his fine
musicianship, his first recital disc for MSR was equally attractive. Now from
MSR Classics comes his second recital covering two discs and I must say
straight away it is very fine too.
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| 2CD MS 1502 |
During the 2014-2015 concert season, in addition to playing recitals
of Beethoven piano sonatas, James Brawn presented concerts entitled The Time Traveller and his Muse comprising
many of his favourite shorter pieces. Brawn thinks of the grand piano as a sort
of time machine that allows him to explore the great music of the past. He believes
that the task of the interpreter should be to convey the composer’s intentions,
though acknowledging other great pianists who have deeply influenced his own
approach to various works presented here.
There is a lovely skip in the step of James Brawn’s playing
of Domenico Scarlatti’s (1685-1757) Sonata in E major, K.380 (Andante commodo) the
work that opens the first CD. This most popular of Scarlatti’s sonatas receives
a beautifully poised performance. He brings a lovely rhythmic clarity to
Scarlatti’s Sonata in C major, K.159 ‘La
Caccia’ (Allegro) always keeping a lively momentum, again positively skipping
along.
Next, Brawn selects five preludes from Book I of Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685-1750) The Well-Tempered Clavier. What a lovely
long flowing line Brawn brings to the Prelude
in C major, BWV 846. He included this prelude in his first recital for MSR
but in this new performance he brings an even finer evenness of touch and
subtle control. That evenness of touch is there in the fast moving Prelude in C minor, BWV 847, superbly played
with some brilliantly fluent passages. Next is a nicely pointed up Prelude in D major, BWV 850 with a
beautifully clear, fluent forward momentum.
The Prelude in E flat
minor, BWV 853 brings a quiet poised thoughtfulness, quite lovely before
bringing a fine flow to the Prelude in E
major, BWV 854. This is very fine
Bach indeed.
The ‘Rondo alla Turca’
from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791)
Sonata No.11 in A major, K.331 receives
a very fine, crisply played performance that leaves one wanting more, which we
get in the form of Mozart’s Fantasia in D
minor, K.397, wonderfully controlled with much poetry, Brawn carefully
bringing out every little nuance, every mood, moving seamlessly from quieter
and introverted moments to outgoing and sunny passages.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s
(1770-1827) ‘Für Elise’ (Bagatelle in
A minor, WoO.59) brings an effortless charm as this pianist allows a
natural flow to take the music forward, revealing this much played piece to be a
little gem.
Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) Moment Musicale No.3 in F minor, Op.94 / D.780 brings Brawn’s
crisp, beautifully lightly sprung touch, a Schubertian delight. There is a
lovely gentle rippling opening to the Impromptu
No.3 in G-flat major, Op.90 / D.899, Brawn bringing such subtle feeling.
The music rises through passages of finely controlled emotion, this pianist
finding such colour and depth. An entrancing performance.
James Brawn takes a selection of Frédéric Chopin’s (1810-1849) works to conclude disc 1. The Prelude No.4 in E minor, Op.28 is an
inspired follow up to the Schubert Impromptu, here given a subdued performance,
intimate in its emotional impact. The stormy emotion of Étude No.12 in C minor, Op.25 takes the listener out of any such
intimacy, full of controlled strength and power. The calm opening of
Étude No.3 in E major,
Op.10 is beautifully turned, full of passion in the central section.
The Étude No.1 in
A-flat major, Op.25, known widely as the Aeolian Harp Etude presumably due to Robert Schumann’s own account
of Chopin’s playing of this Etude ‘let one imagine that an Aeolian harp had all
the scales and that an artist’s hand had mingled them together…it was rather a
billowing of the chord A flat, swelled here and there by the pedal, but through
the harmonies could be heard…a wonderful melody…’ Whilst making no such
comparison, there is that wonderful billowing of sound here, a lovely touch
with subtly controlled rubato. Finally there is a scintillating, clarity and
fluent Étude No.5 in G-flat major, Op.10
with beautifully controlled dynamics.
The second CD continues with more Chopin, first the Prelude
No.15 in D-flat major, Op.28 ‘Raindrop’ which is delivered with a lovely
simplicity. Even when the music builds there is still a fine directness of
utterance, yet so wonderfully poetic in the coda. The solitary Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op.45 has a wonderful
freedom, Brawn finding his way through the many lovely moments, through many
different tempi, finding a new colour in each melodic phrase.
Franz Liszt’s (1811-1886) Consolation No.3 in D-flat major, S.172 also appeared on this
pianist’s first recital disc. That was a gem of a performance yet this new
recording is equally fine with a beautiful delicacy, gently fluid, rising so
subtly during its course.
James Brawn moves forward to Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) with the famous Waltz in A-flat major, Op.39, No.15, nicely laid out with a lovely gentle
rhythm. Even finer is the Intermezzo in A
major, Op.118, No.2, exquisitely shaped, finding so many subtle poetic
nuances. Simply superb.
After the fleeting, elusive Edvard Grieg’s (1843-1907) Arietta
in E-flat major, Op.12, No.1 the early
Étude in C-sharp minor, Op.2, No.1 of Alexander
Scriabin (1872-1915) sits well, Brawn slowly allowing the music to rise and
fall with a fine rubato.
There are five of Sergei
Rachmaninov’s (1873-1943) preludes opening with the Prelude in C-sharp
minor, Op.3, No.2 where Brawn brings fine phrasing and pacing. There is a
scintillating middle section where this pianist really lets go with moments of
supreme pianistic skill, showing a great authority. He reveals a fine emotional
edge to the Prelude in G-sharp minor,
Op.32, No.12 running through many moods before the lovely coda.
The gentle rocking motion of the Prelude in B minor, Op.32, No.10 is quite lovely as he allows the
music to go its way quietly forward before building forcefully with great power
and intensity with moments of pure delight as he brings a great sense of
freedom. Brawn’s fine pacing, phrasing and rubato reveal so much of the poetry
of the Prelude in D major, Op.23, No.4
bringing out the wonderful beauty of the coda. A silken, fluent, rippling Prelude in G major, Op.32, No.5 shows
Brawn’s exquisite touch.
James Brawn brings a terrific rhythmic bounce to Sergei Prokofiev’s (1891-1953) Toccata in D minor, Op.11 with terrific handling
of all the discords and dynamics, finely structured and paced –and what a coda.
James Brawn rounds off this very fine recital with a light-hearted, fun loving performance
of George Gershwin’s (1898-1937) I Got Rhythm, a brilliant conclusion.
The more I hear of James Brawn playing the more I am
convinced of his special musicianship, an ability to bring a wide variety of
music so alive is a very special quality. He has compiled here a fine
collection of popular works and infused them with something special. I found
myself totally captivated with so much of this recital and given its fine
recording made at Potton Hall, Suffolk, England it surely deserves a place on
every music lover’s shelf.
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