Koss 76 manual Beethoven Hammerklavier Sonatas, Millennium Crossings, Felix Hell

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Beethoven: Hammerklavier Sonatas

Anton Kuerti

Analekta FL 2 3187

Lessard: Hammerklavier is the German term for pianoforte — it was originally called the “hammer keyboard.” The expression dates from a time of growing German resistance to the increasing Italian hegemony in music. “Pianoforte” is of course an Italian term. Beethoven, with his usual impetuosity, was hardly the last to leap into the movement. And I have to say that the term “hammer keyboard” seems to suit perfectly the vigorous style of this work.

This precious album includes the Sonata No. 28 in A Major, op.101, followed by the powerful Sonata No. 29 in B Flat, op.106, each with four movements. I use the word “precious” advisedly, for that’s what it is. Not only is the composer sublime (and what remains to be said about that?), but the pianist is entirely worthy of him.

During the nearly hour an a quarter these two works last, Kuerti, something of a Beethoven specialist, gives us a demonstration of his flawless technique, buttressed in this case by equally flawless sound. You have to hear him navigate with remarkable ease through sforzando passages and other segments that are lyrical and fraught with poetry and emo- tion. The performance serves to justify, if justification is needed, his reputation of unsurpassed playing which for many years has won over music lovers, and particularly Beethoven lovers. This is

70 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine

by Reine Lessard

and Gerard Rejskind

Kuerti the way I like him. I heartily recommend this CD.

The booklet, happily complete, makes it possibly unnecessary for me to add anything more on these sonatas by this greatest of composers of the early Romantic period.

Millennium Crossings

Lisa Weiss/ CurtCacioppo Capstone CPS-8734

Lessard: The piano works on this recording are all by contemporary American composers, and indeed all but the first were composed since 1985. There are a number of fascinating ele- ments here, both by the composers and by their virtuosity on the piano. And speaking of the piano itself, it is a Bösen- dorfer Imperial Concert Grand.

The Bösendorfer name is linked to Vienna, that musical centre of the 19th Century, and to Franz Liszt, whose energetic technique and dazzling playing always ended up wrecking the pianos he played. The massacre ended the day he got his hands on a Bösendorfer. Not only could it resist his excesses of enthusiasm, but he was won over by its incomparable tonal beauty, and he made it his own. From that day, the house of Bösendorfer, already famous, gained even more in celebrity.

The Imperial Concert Grand’s key-

board includes one more octave than other pianos, situated at the bottom end, going down to CCCC, capable of producing a tone of 16 Hz! Even when those extra notes aren’t played, they vibrate in sympathy with the other notes, giving the piano its unique sound.

Klavierstück, the first piece on the disc, from 1976, and the Sonata trasfigu- rata of 1986, are from Curt Cacioppo. This musician has had considerable contact with American Indians and is an activist for Native rights, and it happens that here and there he uses elements inspired by Native culture. Initially intrigued by the originality of his inspiration, I was charmed within a few measures by the music’s architec- ture, by the juxtaposition of sounds, by the firm and energetic touch, and by the clarity of the playing. The pianist in this case is Lisa Weiss, herself a composer, who also plays Marino Baratello’s 1991

Klavierstück.

Ingrid Arauco’s Triptych is a collec- tion of three short pieces, played this time by Curt Cacioppo: the Freely, quasi improvisando, followed by an Intermezzo of less than 50 seconds, and a final Allegro with wit and verve, which manages to be both tender and agitated.

Cacioppo also plays two magnificent pieces by Joseph Hudson, the Fantasy- Refrain II and a Piece for the Swans.

What I take away from this music and the musicians who play it is the conciseness, the clarity of the sound that often comes in clusters or in arpeggios, sometimes in trills, and the polished dynamic and timbral effects.

As for the sound, it is up to the standards of the most demanding audiophiles.

Felix Hell

Felix Hell

Reference Recordings RR-101CD Rejskind: It’s so great to have Reference Recordings back! Keith Johnson won’t be setting up his microphones again until summer, but I had heard none of his last productions before Dorian “bought” the company (without actually