Classical Court

Posted by Chris from Lafayette (A) on October 01, 2024 at 17:53:16

. . . on Apple Music. So I'm just catching up now with this post. (Well for one of last Friday's new recordings anyway!) The subject of this post (i.e., Yulianna Avdeeva's new Chopin album) was very surprising to me, because I've never been on the wavelength of this pianist until now.

To me, this recording is on a whole other level compared to what I've heard from Avdeeva previously (and that includes when I heard her live in the Emperor Concerto with Wit and the Warsaw NPO). Even before considering the playing and interpretation themselves on this new recording, it almost seems impossible NOT to be seduced by the sound of the piano on this recording as captured by the Pentatone engineers (in Dolby Atmos - at least on Apple Music!). It's certainly one of the best recorded instances of a piano I know of - so singing, so sustained, and with all the registers in a beautiful balance, and the bass notes really "speaking" on their pitches! But it's one thing to have a superior instrument at your disposal, but quite another to know how to exploit this instrument to get the best from it - which is exactly what Avdeeva does.

I started with the B-minor Sonata, one of the monuments of the piano literature. I'll never forget how I was knocked senseless back in my high school days in the 60's when I heard Martha's sensational recording, which seemed to clean all the cobwebs from other interpretations out of the piece! I was so astounded by Martha's performance that I couldn't practice for weeks afterwards - because. . . what would be the point? This was one of my musical experiences I will never forget! However, over the ensuing years, I began to notice that what I had previously considered impetuousness in her performance often had elements of hastiness, and (God forbid!) I began to see (at least partly) the point of some British critics who, upon the album's initial release, criticized this performance for its lack of continuity and "structure". (When some critics use that word, it like waving a red flag in front of me! - LOL!) Nevertheless, Martha's is still one of the greatest performances of this Sonata I know of.

So here comes Yulianna Avdeeva who starts with a great advantage in that the tone of her instrument is so compelling. In addition, Avdeeva's performance is just slightly slower than Martha's in the "fast" movements, but faster than Martha's in the "slow" movement (Martha: 10:54, 2:17, 8:45 and 4:26; Avdeeva: 12:25, 2:30, 7:43 and 5:19 - with both pianists taking the first movement exposition repeat). So you might think that Yulianna is bringing some cobwebs back into the piece - but not so! The imagination and intelligence with which she connects the "vocal parts" and phrases through superior voicing (i.e., her own control of the tonal balance, as distinct from the beautiful tone of the piano itself) keeps things consistently interesting - I was never wishing that she would "just get on with it", never! What a joy to hear playing like this!

Strangely enough, a huge amount of the repertoire on this new Avdeeva release duplicates the repertoire on Martha's 60's Chopin recital on DG. There's so much duplication that I have to wonder whether it was deliberate. What the new release shows is that there is always room for imaginative rethinking as to how to play even the most standard repertoire, which thus retains its freshness over the decades, or even over the centuries! Just as with Martha's LP from long ago, I'm astounded at this new set of performances from Avdeeva. It makes me want to go back and examine some of Avdeeva's releases which I haven't heard yet - who knows what treasures are in store for me! (Or for you, should you happen to be on MY wavelength! LOL!)