Search - Richard Addinsell, Aram Khachaturian, Dmitry Shostakovich :: Khachaturian, Shostakovich, Addinsell: Concertos

P Ctos - Khachaturian? Shostakovich 2? Addinsell?: Peter J

Dan Fee | Berkeley, CA USA | 02/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc offers three piano concertos from the past century. Khachaturian wrote his single piano concerto in 1936. Addinsell wrote his in 1941. Shostakovich wrote his second concerto as a potential concert vehicle for his son, Maxim, then still a student at the Moscow Conservatory. Shostakovich is probably the most likely of these three composers to be viewed as a major figure of the twentieth century, though, truth be told, his two piano concertos are not typically regarded as among the great piano concertos of their contemporary era. Most listeners rank them as somewhat more lightweight than the two Ravel piano concertos, though musically enjoyable all the same. The Shostakovich symphonies will hold that pride of position, instead. The Khachaturian piano concerto is both a hot house exotic among piano concertos, and a hybrid that most concerto goers are happy to hear every once in a while, though as music most listeners are never quite sure if the point is Armenian heritage, virtuoso circus three-rings gestures, or just color and an evenings' entertainment. The most surely pop-music of the three must be the Richard Addinsell so-called Warsaw Concerto. It was born as film music, and has never really gotten much beyond being pigeon-holed as such.



The art of listening in all three piano concertos depends on that old folk wisdom of knowing not to expect too much from any of these works. Taken entirely on their own somewhat quirky terms, each can be fun.



Now add venerable Polish conductor Antoni Wit, and his Polish Radio Orchestra into the recording studio equation. With Peter Jablonski as our star piano soloist. What happens to these three similar yet very different piano concertos, then?



Let's start with the Khachaturian, just as the disc does.



Surprise. While Wit and his Polish band allow plenty of local folk colors - including the often omitted watery-wavery sounds of the flexatone, ringing-pinging away in the concerto's second (slow) movement; fact is this performance lifts up on its own appealing and appealingly quirky musical wings. Jablonski has a touch made for Mozart, and he plays the Khachaturian accordingly. Something physically innate to Jablonski's limpid tone perpetually reminds me of Dinu Lipatti, no matter what he happens to be playing. So, think: Dinu Lipatti in Khachaturian's only piano concerto. Is this possible? Can this work?



Well, yes it can.



I'm still not sure that Khachaturian actually gains any more depth of musical purpose than it ever had in anybody else's hands. But the message comes across with an unusual poise and clarity and flow. Nobody takes any pains to disguise or distort the 1930's echoes of tin pan alley and jazz that swirl around many of the passages, or the keyboard figurations. Suddenly, the Khachaturian has a new home context, right there along with the Ravel concertos, Gershwin's Concerto in F, Stravinsky's neoclassically inclined capriccio or movements or the concerto with wind instruments. Nearer than we might have imagined, to Petrouchka's hijinks, or Poulenc's travelogues and mugging - and not all that far away from the big ones, five by Prokofiev, three by Bartok.



My water mark performances in the Khachaturian have been three. Constantine Orbellian with Jarvi is simply all you could want. Boris Berezovsky unleashed is also stunning. Dikran Atamian with Seattle serves up hair-raising virtuosity And to reach for a real rare sleeper in the bins, Mindru Katz recorded a reading that reaches far, far, deeper than many in this brash, folklorical music. Now I add Jablonski to the fav shelf without hesitating. His approach is crystal clear and minty fresh to my ears; yet still does not fall into the hidden trap of trying to make the composer say more than he says.



Similar poise and clarity inform the Shostakovich second piano concerto. Nobody is playing up to it or down to it or sideways to it. Yet since the clear-eyed musical fire of these performers is unfailing, this second outing ends up sounding better than its widespread reputation as sheer musical entertainment. Odd moments of subtle depth open up, then disappear again in the bubbling musical streams. Shostakovich is a fellow who knows how to have fun, but he has been no stranger to darkness or shadows and he never, ever seems to have stopped reading, thinking, asking questions. Even in this second concerto, Shostakovich still sounds like the sort of neighbor you are glad to have around, even when a conversation is not all that serious within earshot of the secret police.



Finally, the Warsaw Concerto. What can be done with this pop piano concerto chestnut?



Jablonski and friends know that Addinsell is Hollywood. But so what? In that era, a whole lot of gifted folks were hanging around tinsel town, native musicians and early expatriates fleeing the European meltdown impending, alike. By balance and directness, Jablonski and friends rescue the Warsaw Concerto from the silly sentimentalities and saturated-technicolor gestures which usually vitiate its shape and vitality.



So this performance is a keeper in its own way, too. Its timing touched just right - like one of those famous James Bond martinis, shaken not stirred.



None of these piano concertos is going to displace Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, Grieg, or Liszt any time soon. But, each of these three shows yet again that it deserves its place, just being its own musical self.



Bravo all around. Who knew there were such fastidiously unpretentious yet well-manned sophisticates in Poland music these days, or that the Scandinavian Peter Jablonski could sit in so perfectly. Even if you just hate these concertos, you might end up like these outstandingly fresh, directly musical readings. Test drive the preview Mp3 links, and try to keep an open musical mind.



Five stars, for all the good reasons I already mentioned. Living well is the best revenge."