| |
Reviews
GMCD 7329 Amy Beach
(1867-1944) Piano Music, Vol. 2: The Turn of the Century - Kirsten Johnson,
piano
International Record Review April 2009
Beach Piano Music,
Volume 2. New
Children's Album, Op.
36. Two Compositions, Op. 54 - No. 1, Scottish Legend; No. 2, Gavotte
fantastique. Variations on Balkan Themes, Op. 60. Four Eskimo Pieces, Op. 64.
Moderato, Op. posth. Serenade (transcription of R. Strauss's 'Standchen').
Kirsten Johnson
(piano).
Guild GMCD7329 (full
price, 1 hour 1 minute). Website
www.guildmusic.com Producer
John Rushby-Smith.
Engineer Jonathan Lane. Dates April 25th, 2007, February 26th, 2008.
Amy Beach, the most
illustrious female composer to emerge from the USA, was a child prodigy from New
Hampshire. Reportedly, at the age of one she was able to memorize 40 melodies
and was competently writing waltzes by the age of four. She was largely
self-taught and her compositions include a good deal of piano music alongside
larger-scale orchestral and choral works. She was an active educationalist who
toured extensively in Europe as well as America and was a fervent exponent of
Classical and Romantic repertoire as well as her own piano works.
Kirsten Johnson
comments in the booklet notes that the Variations on Balkan Themes of
1904 came in response to a collection of folk melodies brought back from
missionaries to Bulgaria. Beach's prodigious capacities allowed her to score not
only four of these from memory but to complete the entire work - which lasts
close to half an hour - in little more than a week. She successfully
encapsulated the melodies from which the variations are constructed within a
highly accessible and tonal language that frequently draws sustenance from
figurations owing much to Chopin and Liszt. Yet the music amounts to more than
mere parody, for Beach is often capable of revealing a fresh and personal voice:
poetic, stirring, virtuosic and highly chromatic. The Variations are
superbly executed by Johnson, the pianist controlling the climactic flourishes
so as to retain a focus on the all-important melodic thread. This is sensitive
playing, the seventh variation (' Quasi Fantasia') enlivened by a delightfully
crisp attack
and
the
'Marcia
funerale'
given
a dark,
brooding
resonance.
Before
the
reprise
of
the
main
theme there
is a
'Cadenza',
which
holds
more
than
a passing
allusion
to
the extravagant
pianistic
exploits
of Tchaikovsky
and Liszt.
I
enjoyed
the five-movement
Children's
Album,
a
setting
of dances
ranging
from the
minuet
to the
polka,
which
(surprisingly
uncommonly
for
pieces bearing
such
a
description)
can
work
nicely
in
a
child's
hands.
The
Serenade,
a transcription
of
Richard
Strauss's
song
Standchen,
turns
out to
be an
exceptionally
faithful
rendering
of the
original,
the
climax
none
the
less
acquiring
a new and
expansive
treatment.
This
is
a really
effective
work, made
all
the
more
sparkling
by
Johnson'
s lightness
of touch.
Beach's
fascination
for
folk
melodies
continues
in
the
'Scottish
Legend',
Op.
54
No.
1,
a
charmingly
wistful
little
piece
that
raises
a smile
(there
again,
I'm no
more
Scottish
than
Beach).
The
'Gavotte
fantastique',
Op.
54
No.
2
has
shades
of
Rachmaninov,
while
the
work
she
called
Eskimos
brings
together
several
Inuit
melodies.
This
is
a delightful
collection,
full
of
naive
character
and
interest,
especially
'The
Returning
Hunter'
and 'With
Dog-Teams',
beautifully
rendered
by
Johnson.
There
is
much
to
enjoy
in this
album,
although
one
is
left
with
the
feeling
that
while
much
of
the
material
is rather
good,
it
frequently
falls
somewhat
short
of
'great'.
Beach's
mastery
of the
instrument
is
abundantly
clear,
however,
the
more
florid
writing
demonstrating
her
own
extraordinary
facility,
and the
voicing
of
the more
lavishly
constructed
chords
finely
judged.
The
composer
cannot
have
anticipated
a more
attentive
champion
for her
piano music
than
Kirsten
Johnson,
although
in
her
notes
I
would
have welcomed
a little
more
of her
personal
insight
into
the
musical
mind
of the
composer.
Mark
Tanner
New Classics UK Tuesday June 02 2009
The
prolific American composer and pianist Amy Beach was born as Amy Marcy Cheney
into a distinguished New England family in 1867. A child prodigy, she was able
to sing forty tunes accurately by the age of one, taught herself to read at
three, and began composing simple waltzes age only four. She began formal piano
lessons with her mother at the age of six, and a year later started giving
public recitals, playing works by Handel, Beethoven, Chopin, and her own pieces.
She made her professional debut in Boston in 1883 and shortly afterwards
appeared as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Opera. Following her marriage in
1885 to Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach she limited her performances to one public
recital a year, and at her husband’s request, she devoted herself to
composition. With the success of her Mass in E Flat Major in 1892, Amy Beach was
recognised as one of America’s finest composers. After her husband died, she
toured Europe as a pianist, playing her own compositions, before returning to
America to use her status to further the careers of many young musicians.
Kirsten Johnson follows up Volume 1 of her series of the complete works of Amy
Beach with this album containing one of her most important works, Variations on
Balkan Themes, as well as all of the piano pieces composed at the end of the
19th century and beginning of the 20th. The brilliant Serenade shows her mastery
of virtuoso piano writing and Eskimos displays her ability to create delightful
vignettes. Moderato and Children’s Album are world première recordings.
Exquisite attention to detail, lovely tone colours and an amazing technique make
Kirsten Johnson’s recording indispensable.
MusicWeb International Thursday May 28 2009
Another
splendidly performed slice of Amy Beach ... Jonathan Woolf
Amy BEACH
(1867-1944)
Variations on Balkan Themes Op.60 (1904) [28:30]
Scottish legend Op.54 No.1 (1903) [3:04]
Gavotte fantastique Op.54 No.2 (1903) [3:16]
Children’s Album Op.36 (1897) [9:15]
Transcription (1902) of Richard Strauss’s Serenade Op.17 No. 2 [3:54]
Eskimos, Four Characteristic Pieces Op.64 (1904) [11:04]
Moderato [1:42]
Kirsten Johnson (piano)
rec. St George’s, Bristol, April 2007 (Children’s Album Op.54 Nos.1 and 2,
Moderato) and February 2008 (remainder)
Piano Music: Volume Two - The Turn of the Century
GUILD GMCD7329 [60:48]
This is the second volume in Kirsten Johnson’s admirable survey of the complete
piano music of Amy Beach. The first release has already been
reviewed
and I see no reason whatsoever to modify my view that this is now shaping up to
be a very fine, if contrastive cycle to that given by
Joanne Polk,
whose volumes I reviewed back in 2004.
This particular volume sports a ‘Turn of the Century’ theme and it spans the
1897 Children’s Album to Eskimos and the Variations on Balkan Themes, two
important works written in 1904. Moreover it does so with real refinement.
Eskimos is a clever and pictorial four movement work. In the first volume
I found Johnson rather quicker than Polk and less inclined to rubati. Here
things are rather different. Polk opens Arctic Night with a rather
gaunter soundscape and a lot quicker, perhaps hinting at the seeping
impressionism of the writing. Johnson however is fresher in The Returning
Hunter and I do rather prefer the Guild recorded sound throughout; it’s more
lush and cushioning than the Arabesque set. Honours are about even in Exiles.
Here Johnson is again slower, and warmer, but Polk still manages to vest the
con amore indication even at a more direct speed.
The other major work here is the Variations. Polk is a little more leisurely in
the theme itself and in variations I, VII, VIII and the Marcia funerale,
which is part of variation VIII. The work owes its origin to the
Macedonian-Turkish conflict of the time, and is a series of variations on four
themes with one of them making multiple reappearances. Johnson plays with real
understanding of the more clement and the more astringent Lisztian elements
embodied within it; she’s especially fine in variation III where she balances
delicacy and declamation with real and rare acuteness.
Op.54 includes the Scottish legend and the Gavotte fantastique,
the latter notable for the tighter rhythms Johnson finds than Polk and for the
salon caprice she enjoys in the music making - a truly fine performance. The
Children’s Album is delightful but very slight; predicated on dance tunes and
rhythms and pleasingly generic. The second, a Gavotte, sounds suspiciously like
the Op.54/2 Gavotte fantastique but the March is not too martial and its
Music Hall elements also appeal.
With the lovely transcription of Richard Strauss’s Serenade and an
undated and brief Moderato to complete the programme we have here another
splendidly performed slice of Amy Beach. Both Polk and Johnson have profound
strengths in this repertory and there will be adherents of both. I prefer
Guild’s sound which may tip things; in any case I very much like Johnson’s
playing. Jonathan
Woolf
MusicWeb International Friday April 17 2009
Heart-warming, grace and character. A hidden gem ... Dan Morgan
REVIEW
RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Amy BEACH
(1867-1944)
Piano Music Vol. 2: The Turn of the Century
Variations on Balkan Themes, Op.60 (1904) [28:30]
Children’s Album, Op.36 (1897)
No. 1: Minuet [2:21]
No. 2: Gavotte [1:49]
No. 3: Waltz [1:42]
No. 4: March [1:53]
No. 5: Polka [1:30]
Serenade (Transcription of R.Strauss’s Ständchen) (1902) [3:54]
Scottish Legend, Op.54, No.1 (1903) [3:04]
Gavotte fantastique, Op.54, No.2 (1903) [3:16]
Eskimos, Op.64 (1907)
No. 1: Arctic Night [3:40]
No. 2: The Returning Hunter [1:12]
No. 3: Exiles [3:58]
No. 4: With Dog-teams [2:14]
Moderato (undated manuscript) [1:42]
Kirsten Johnson (piano)
rec. St George’s, Bristol, 25 April 2007 & 26 February 2008
GUILD GMCD7329 [60:48]
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach only swam into my ken recently, and I’m so glad she did.
Like her compatriot and contemporary Charles Edward Ives she hailed from New
England, where she made quite an impact as a child prodigy. She gave her first
public performance at seven and, largely self-taught, went on to become both a
performer and a composer of some distinction. Unfortunately for such an
independent-minded and talented young woman her husband insisted she limit her
performances to just one a year; the good news is that she was then able to
devote more time to composition, becoming America’s first female composer of
large-scale orchestral works, such as the Symphony No. 2 in E minor
‘Gaelic’ (1896) (on
Naxos,
Bridge
and Chandos).
Given that she was a piano prodigy it’s hardly surprising that much of Beach’s
output was written for the instrument. Inexplicably, recordings of her works are
still few and far between, so Guild must be congratulated for taking on this
series with American-born pianist Kirsten Johnson. My colleague Jonathan Woolf
welcomed the first volume of early works – see
review
– and now we have the second, covering the period 1897-1907. The first piece,
Op. 60, is based on Balkan folk melodies Beach picked up from two missionaries
to Bulgaria. An unusual source of inspiration, perhaps, but these tunes form the
basis of a most rewarding set of variations. The opening Adagio malincolico
is surely Chopinesque, but surely there’s a hint of something much more
individual in the music’s harmonic shifts and twists.
Johnson, who has an interest in music from this part of the world – she has
recorded two discs of Albanian music for Guild – see
review 1
and
review 2
– also provides very informative liner-notes. As I’ve said before, informed
comments and analyses are most useful when it comes to less familiar repertoire;
if only all recording companies took the same view. As for the pieces in Op. 60
– ranging from a minute to four-and-a-half in length – they cover a wide variety
of moods. Variation II is particularly forthright, masculine even, in its weight
and reach. Contrast that with the finely wrought Variation IV and you’ll soon
appreciate the cut of this composer’s jib.
St George’s, Bristol, makes a fine venue for this recording; the piano sounds
warm and detailed throughout, with no hint of distracting brightness or jangle.
But what I admire most is Johnson’s natural, flowing style, which picks up so
much colour and detail along the way. Those simple arpeggios and trills in
Variation V are finely graded yet so full of feeling. If you’re looking for
rough Bartókian rusticity in these tunes you’re in the wrong place. It seems
that Beach merely uses these melodies as springboards for a series of highly
expressive inventions. The repeated rhythms and whirls of the Allegro all’
Ongroise and the Marcia funerale may seem a little understated but
Johnson handles this music with wonderful poise and restraint. They are
miniatures, after all, and I’m delighted that she isn’t tempted to put them in
large, ornate frames.
Variation VII is one of the loveliest pieces here, combining weight and delicacy
with a certain rhapsodic quality. Even in the broader, more declamatory moments
– Variation VIII for instance – Johnson’s sense of musical perspective ensures
these pieces are scaled to perfection. The sombre Funeral March has a measured
tread, the pianist very much in control of the music’s steady climb to a dynamic
peak and its gentle descent to the valley below. Similarly, in the Cadenza
Johnson finds a good balance between the music’s outward virtuosity and its
inner voices. Just listen to the bell-like close to this section and the gentle
but expansive reprise of the opening theme. This really is delectable music,
superbly played.
In the great tradition of children’s pieces – Schumann and Debussy spring to
mind – Beach’s Children’s Corner artfully combines an element of grown-up
gravitas with child-like charm. Witness the earnest little Minuet, with its
fleeting glimpses of something more wistful; Johnson phrasing the Gavotte with
grace and a real feeling for the music’s delicate proportions. Ditto the
music-box-like-tinkle of the Waltz, whose gentle rhythms are so naturally done.
A March and Polka round off the suite, the latter combining crisp inner detail
with plenty of outward sparkle.
Beach’s transcription of the Richard Strauss song Ständchen is
sensitively done, the flourishes capturing the swirl of the orchestral original,
Johnson conveying the music’s surging character as well. Very accomplished
writing indeed, played with orchestral amplitude. Scottish Legend is more
considered, yet it retains all the ease and fluency of Beach’s earlier pieces.
As for the Gavotte fantastique it fuses pointillist dabs with broader
swathes of colour, yet it sounds wonderfully nimble in Johnson’s hands. The more
programmatic Eskimos – based on Inuit melodies – is sparer of texture but
no less atmospheric for that. The plain harmonies of Arctic Night give
the piece a somewhat desolate feel; The Returning Hunter is much brighter
and more rhythmic and Exiles has a restless, yearning air to it.
As with much we’ve heard thus far there is an economy of style in Eskimos,
an emotional restraint, that is most impressive. It’s the kind of writing that
can so easily underwhelm unless it’s played with utter conviction. No quibbles
on that score, with Johnson despatching the animated final section with her
customary elan. The disc ends with an exquisitely shaped little
Moderato, the perfect sign-off to an enchanting collection.
Like Cortez gazing down from that peak in Darien new listeners will surely
marvel at the more compact, but no less revelatory, landscape unveiled here. Any
niggles or no-nos? Absolutely none. This is heart-warming music played with rare
grace and character; indeed, it could very well be one of my discs of the year.
Dan
Morgan
International Record Review April 2009
Beach Piano Music,
Volume 2. New
Children's Album, Op.
36. Two Compositions, Op. 54 - No. 1, Scottish Legend; No. 2, Gavotte
fantastique. Variations on Balkan Themes, Op. 60. Four Eskimo Pieces, Op. 64.
Moderato, Op. posth. Serenade (transcription of R. Strauss's 'Standchen').
Kirsten Johnson
(piano).
Guild GMCD7329 (full
price, 1 hour 1 minute). Website
www.guildmusic.com Producer
John Rushby-Smith.
Engineer Jonathan Lane. Dates April 25th, 2007, February 26th, 2008.
Amy Beach, the most
illustrious female composer to emerge from the USA, was a child prodigy from New
Hampshire. Reportedly, at the age of one she was able to memorize 40 melodies
and was competently writing waltzes by the age of four. She was largely
self-taught and her compositions include a good deal of piano music alongside
larger-scale orchestral and choral works. She was an active educationalist who
toured extensively in Europe as well as America and was a fervent exponent of
Classical and Romantic repertoire as well as her own piano works.
Kirsten Johnson
comments in the booklet notes that the Variations on Balkan Themes of
1904 came in response to a collection of folk melodies brought back from
missionaries to Bulgaria. Beach's prodigious capacities allowed her to score not
only four of these from memory but to complete the entire work - which lasts
close to half an hour - in little more than a week. She successfully
encapsulated the melodies from which the variations are constructed within a
highly accessible and tonal language that frequently draws sustenance from
figurations owing much to Chopin and Liszt. Yet the music amounts to more than
mere parody, for Beach is often capable of revealing a fresh and personal voice:
poetic, stirring, virtuosic and highly chromatic. The Variations are
superbly executed by Johnson, the pianist controlling the climactic flourishes
so as to retain a focus on the all-important melodic thread. This is sensitive
playing, the seventh variation (' Quasi Fantasia') enlivened by a delightfully
crisp attack
and
the
'Marcia
funerale'
given
a dark,
brooding
resonance.
Before
the
reprise
of
the
main
theme there
is a
'Cadenza',
which
holds
more
than
a passing
allusion
to
the extravagant
pianistic
exploits
of Tchaikovsky
and Liszt.
I
enjoyed
the five-movement
Children's
Album,
a
setting
of dances
ranging
from the
minuet
to the
polka,
which
(surprisingly
uncommonly
for
pieces bearing
such
a
description)
can
work
nicely
in
a
child's
hands.
The
Serenade,
a transcription
of
Richard
Strauss's
song
Standchen,
turns
out to
be an
exceptionally
faithful
rendering
of the
original,
the
climax
none
the
less
acquiring
a new and
expansive
treatment.
This
is
a really
effective
work, made
all
the
more
sparkling
by
Johnson'
s lightness
of touch.
Beach's
fascination
for
folk
melodies
continues
in
the
'Scottish
Legend',
Op.
54
No.
1,
a
charmingly
wistful
little
piece
that
raises
a smile
(there
again,
I'm no
more
Scottish
than
Beach).
The
'Gavotte
fantastique',
Op.
54
No.
2
has
shades
of
Rachmaninov,
while
the
work
she
called
Eskimos
brings
together
several
Inuit
melodies.
This
is
a delightful
collection,
full
of
naive
character
and
interest,
especially
'The
Returning
Hunter'
and 'With
Dog-Teams',
beautifully
rendered
by
Johnson.
There
is
much
to
enjoy
in this
album,
although
one
is
left
with
the
feeling
that
while
much
of
the
material
is rather
good,
it
frequently
falls
somewhat
short
of
'great'.
Beach's
mastery
of the
instrument
is
abundantly
clear,
however,
the
more
florid
writing
demonstrating
her
own
extraordinary
facility,
and the
voicing
of
the more
lavishly
constructed
chords
finely
judged.
The
composer
cannot
have
anticipated
a more
attentive
champion
for her
piano music
than
Kirsten
Johnson,
although
in
her
notes
I
would
have welcomed
a little
more
of her
personal
insight
into
the
musical
mind
of the
composer.
Mark
Tanner
Page revised Friday December 18 2009
|
