John Corigliano Complete Piano Works: Piano Concerto; Etude Fantasy etc. Philip Edward Fisher (piano); Albany Symphony/David Alan Miller Naxos 8.559930 81:04 mins
The visceral, biting use of timbre heard in John Corigliano’s early symphonies extends to his 1968 Piano Concerto, a fascinating work that has hitherto been neglected by pianists, with the exception of the intrepid Barry Douglas (RCA, 1996). The four movements regularly venture into atonality, with changing time signatures and impromptu leaps between lyrical, almost Rachmaninovian melodies and pulse-led sections. Philip Edward Fisher is an excellent guide to this brilliant yet sometimes bewildering soundworld, efficiently negotiating the second movement’s 12-tone trio section of the Scherzo to clamber across the craggy peak of the third movement. After sitting peacefully to admire the view during a sparse pianissimo section, the exuberant cluster chords in the final Allegro see the pianist firmly plant his flag – while simultaneously tying together the various thematic material that has come before.
But Corigliano – perhaps best known for his chaconne-led score to the 1998 film The Red Violin – is also a master of subtlety. When commissioned to write what became Fantasia on an Ostinato for the 1986 Van Cliburn piano competition, he ignored the temptation to write a virtuosic showpiece, presenting instead a minimalistic reverie on a repeated figure. Fisher brings his signature creativity to what could, in the wrong hands, become tedious repetition. Both here and in the Étude Fantasy – a set of five miniatures that build on a melody for left hand alone, moving from pared-back legato to fussy ornamentation – there is a breathtaking level of articulation and dynamic detail, flattered by a high-quality recording.
Claire Jackson