COMPOSERS: Bach,Bartok,Schumann
LABELS: Easyaccess
WORKS: Partita in D, BWV 828
PERFORMER: Lora Dimitrova (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: ESL 199801 (distr. Recognition/Universal)
The young Bulgarian pianist Lora Dimitrova has among her fine credentials the recommendation of the late Georg Solti, with whom she performed the Bartok Third Piano Concerto shortly before his death. Here a spread of repertoire from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries is well chosen to display the range of her pianistic abilities. Prime among these qualities, and most obvious in the Bartok, is a wonderfully compelling sense of rhythm; the Bulgarian Dances and the darker, more passionate moments of the Schumann Etudes Symphonique are full of fiery conviction and powerful tone. She is also an imaginative artist, keen to find unusual ways of voicing in the Schumann and of articulating and phrasing in the Bach. The latter is the least successful recording, however, as Dimitrova seems to have learned the wrong things from Glenn Gould: the mellifluous arabesques of the Allemande, one of Bach's most beautiful, are made ponderous by the slow tempo, so are the flourishes of the Ouverture's first section, and the work's joie de vivre too often disappears into oddly chosen detail. Jessica Duchen
Bach, Bart—k, Schumann
The young Bulgarian pianist Lora Dimitrova has among her fine credentials the recommendation of the late Georg Solti, with whom she performed the Bartok Third Piano Concerto shortly before his death. Here a spread of repertoire from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries is well chosen to display the range of her pianistic abilities. Prime among these qualities, and most obvious in the Bartok, is a wonderfully compelling sense of rhythm; the Bulgarian Dances and the darker, more passionate moments of the Schumann Etudes Symphonique are full of fiery conviction and powerful tone.
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:17 pm