Piano CPE Bach Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere, in einem Rondo, Wq66 H272. L’Aly Rupalich, Wq117/27 H95. Arioso, Wq118/10 H259. La complaisante, Wq117/28 H109. Fantasia, Wq61/6 H291. Freie Fantasie fürs Clavier, Wq67 H300. L’Herrmann, Wq117/23 H92. Keyboard Sonatas: Wq49/2 H31; Wq57 – No 2 H247; No 6 H173; Wq59/1 H281; Wq61/2 H286; Wq62 No 12 H66. March, BWVAnh124. La Prinzette, Wq117/21 H91. Rondos – Wq57/1 H265; Wq58 – No 3 H274; No 5 H267; Wq59/4 H283. Solfeggio, Wq117/2 Marc-André Hamelin pf Hyperion F b CDA68381/2 (141’ • DDD)

Certain performers seem to find a Being John Malkovich-like secret portal to the brain of every composer they play. MarcAndré Hamelin is certainly among them. And when the brain is that of the maverick of the Bach dynasty, Carl Philipp Emanuel, we can expect extraordinary things. With music that is rooted in his father’s legacy yet looks as far ahead as Brahms and Schumann, CPE is one of those figures who challenges the linear view of music history. Hamelin’s two generously filled discs make a strong case not only for the composer’s historic significance but also for the modern piano’s suitability to his limitless flights of imagination and unsettling juxtapositions. In this Hamelin joins Danny Driver (Hyperion) and Mikhail Pletnev (DG) among the most distinguished of modern exponents. Where parallel listening is possible, the differences in approach only highlight the infinite variety of the works themselves. Take, for example, the E minor Sonata, H281, where Pletnev’s powdered-andwigged stylisation is as delightful as Hamelin’s greater willingness to allow the music’s playfulness to do the job on its own. Hamelin and Pletnev excel equally in chameleon-like changes of colour and touch, tailored to the character of each piece and the detail of each phrase. With Hamelin especially, this quality, in a highly contrasting and rich programme, makes for an exhilarating illusion of the music being created on the spot. This is no less true of the heartfelt expressiveness

Award sponsored by of the sighing motifs in the Rondo Farewell to my Silbermann Clavier and the Couperinlike articulations in L’Herrmann.

Alongside sonatas and rondos, Hamelin also samples fantasias and character pieces. Highly improvisatory and free, Bach’s fantasies are summations of his inventiveness and his demands on the performer’s brilliance and empathy, from the mischievous sudden arrests in the Presto di molto of the C major Fantasia (H291) to the majestic Freie Fantasie in F sharp minor (H300), which seemingly reaches beyond Sturm and Drang all the way to the 19th-century Romantics. This aspect is where the constraints of the harpsichord, and even of the ‘tangent piano’ so beautifully deployed by Alexei Lubimov, become most obvious. Still, no one interested in this repertoire should miss the famous Solfeggio (or Solfegietto, as it is popularly known) as strummed with cimbalom-like fluidity by Lubimov’s instrument. Not even Hamelin can recreate the full piquancy of this effect.

Among the character pieces in Hamelin’s selection, a highlight is the wacky L’Aly Rupalich (H95), brought to life here with great zest and wit. Is it possible to listen to this piece without moving your body? I doubt it. This is surely an 18th-century equivalent to hip hop. Throughout the programme, Hamelin’s delight and relish are highly infectious. The informative booklet essay is by Mahan Esfahani, himself a seasoned CPE Bach exponent on the harpsichord. In short, I cannot think of a better introduction to CPE Bach on the modern piano than these two joyous discs. Michelle Assay Keyboard Works – selected comparisons: Pletnev (2/02) (DG) 459 614-2GH2 Driver (7/10) (HYPE) CDA67786/67908 (oas) Lubimov (10/17) (ECM) 476 3652

Beethoven Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op 120 Mitsuko Uchida pf Decca F 485 2731 (59’ • DDD)

Has Diabelli’s innocent theme ever been given such a sharp profile,

I wonder? The grace notes are fractionally elongated, so that when we reach the triplet up-beats of Var 11 we pick up the affinity; there is a slight but clear caesura between the first two phrases (not on the repeat, so as to avoid any suspicion of mannerism); the off-beat sforzandos are emphasised and the down-beats phrased off to near inaudibility; the single piano notes in the second half are given a fraction of surrounding air, to excellently witty effect. The first variation is no less cannily sculpted, bringing out a mock-pomposo character: this time the first two phrases are slightly closer together than notated (first time only); the quaver up-beats are resolutely full-length and ‘philistinely’ equalised in dynamic force; the quaver rests in the second half are playfully varied.

No variation passes without some subtle illumination of timing, articulation or inner dialogue. How teasingly Uchida brings out the leggiermente of the second variation; how warm is her dolce in Vars 3 and 4, and how deliciously yielding their cadences; how lucid is her counterpoint in Var 4 and how ideally controlled its increase from piano to forte; how perfectly weighted are the dynamic contrasts in Var 5; how magnificently sturdy is the serioso Var 6, yet also how intricate is Uchida’s response to the twists and turns of the second half; how orchestrally she voices the sforzandos of Var 7 and how effective are the fractional delays she applies to some of them; how touchingly she allows the withdrawn dolce e teneramente of Var 8 to lean towards Schumann; how resilient are the acciaccaturas (as in the theme, fractionally prolonged) of Var 9, how scrupulous the dynamics and how deliciously varied in the repeat of the second half (is that a filled-out left-hand chord at the end – well, why not?).

Then Uchida takes a longer pause, to help articulate the broader structure of the piece and give the ear a chance to breathe (so to speak). And we are back with the triplet variant of the initial grace notes for Var 11, its initial imitations made all the more captivating by their fractional extra space and leading us into a thoughtful marshalling of inner strength in Var 12.

Don’t think that there is a ‘but’ coming. Or if there is, it is of an interrogative kind: is it possible to be too intense or too interesting in these variations? Might that

32 GRAMOPHONE 32 GRAMOPHONE SHORTLIST 2022

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