Instrumental
CD and Other Review

Review: Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas (Mauser)

The name Siegfried Mauser may not be familiar to Western European ears, but those who do know the name know him as a pianist who has specialised in 20th century German contrapuntal pianism from the likes of Hindemith, Hartmann and Henze. Now is probably the optimum time for him to be investigating Mozart’s keyboard sonatas as he has also published a text on them and has recently been made head of the Salzburg’s esteemed Mozarteum. Of course there have been many surveys of this cycle and it often comes down to personal favourites. Mine include the straightforward approach of the 50s’ EMI cycle by Walter Gieseking. For modern cycles, I’ve long been an advocate of Mitsuko Uchida’s fine Philips traversal. Frustrating and amusing by turn, I’ve also been fascinated by Glenn Gould (Sony), where critics have gone so far as to suggest that this must rank amongst the worst discs ever made! Yet somehow in spite of his distortions, Mozart’s music survives and encourages debate, and surely this is important. Against this backdrop Mauser may appear as coy if not conservative, for he is completely at ease in letting this music speak on its own behalf. And… Continue reading Get…

April 7, 2015
Instrumental
CD and Other Review

Review: Bach: The Art of Fugue (Hewitt)

Buy this album on iTunes: Bach: The Art of Fugue – Angela Hewitt Bach’s final work, The Art of Fugue, is a formidable contrapuntal challenge for any musician – it’s essentially the Mount Everest of Baroque intricacy, containing some of his most devilishly complex part-writing. The work, consisting of fourteen fugues and four canons, is written utilising a different permutation of the same theme in each part, so Bach’s single short theme is presented in dozens of different ways. The four-bar theme is heard in augmentation (longer note values), diminution (shorter note values), inverted (upside-down), and in a whole variety of canons. Such an intensely cerebral work will acquire an air of mystery in any case, and the fact that Bach died before he could finish it has only added to its reputation. Perhaps that’s why it has taken renowned Bach pianist Angela Hewitt quite so long to tackle this behemoth; she’s been recording Baroque works on the piano for many years, but she’s only added The Art of Fugue to her repertoire in 2012. It may have taken her a little while, but it’s been well worth waiting for,… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month…

March 19, 2015