COMPOSERS: Szymanowski
LABELS: Naxos
WORKS: Piano Sonata No. 2; Four Studies, Op. 4; Metopes; Mazurkas, Op. 50/1, 2, 3, 4
PERFORMER: Martin Roscoe (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 8.553016 DDD
This is the opener in a planned Szymanowski series from Naxos. Roscoe finds light and shade in the early works – the A major Sonata (a classic of grandiose, post-Brahms-and-Liszt tonal flux) and the Op. 4 Etudes, including the gorgeous B flat minor (No. 3). The impressionistic Metopes have their own piquancy, but Roscoe overtaxes the pedal, at the expense of the late Mazurkas’ crystalline texturing. For these, try the more idiomatic Joanna Domanska on Olympia. Roderic Dunnett
Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No. 2; Four Studies, Op. 4; Metopes; Mazurkas, Op. 50/1, 2, 3, 4
This is the opener in a planned Szymanowski series from Naxos. Roscoe finds light and shade in the early works – the A major Sonata (a classic of grandiose, post-Brahms-and-Liszt tonal flux) and the Op. 4 Etudes, including the gorgeous B flat minor (No. 3). The impressionistic Metopes have their own piquancy, but Roscoe overtaxes the pedal, at the expense of the late Mazurkas’ crystalline texturing. For these, try the more idiomatic Joanna Domanska on Olympia. Roderic Dunnett
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm