Search - Bortkiewicz, Katsaris :: Preludes Etudes Elegie: Piano Works

Splendid piano works played with musicality and bravura

forbearing | Echterdingen, Germany | 07/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One can only hope that this disk of music by the late Romantic Russian composer and pianist, Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952), continues to be available. The effort to secure it should certainly be rewarding to all who enjoy piano music in a late Romantic style. Though now becoming more familiar through recordings such as this one and Hyperion's recent release of Bortkiewicz's two completed symphonies, I have to admit that the very name of Bortkiewicz was completely unknown to me until a close friend gave this disk to me in early 2002, even though my musical background (classically trained pianist and violinist, classical DJ at college, two degrees in music) should at least have provided me that much knowledge.But as I then listened without preconceptions to Cyprien Katsaris's exemplary performances of a selection of Bortkiewicz's work, I found myself drawn from the beginning of the first etude, and increasingly entranced with his direct style, which I find strangely compelling in its melodiousness, harmonic warmth, and overall formal flow. Listen, for instance, to one of Bortkiewicz's most passionate works, the third etude of Op. 29, which features a noble and decisive melody over a tempestuous and intricate left hand pattern, and you may capture a glimpse of the nature of the brunette who inspired the composer to produce this short but effective piece.In fact, just such a composition, or the more extended and equally gripping impromptu, "Eros", from Op. 24, which appropriately builds to ever greater climaxes, forced me to confront what I still find personally almost paradoxical: Why does such music move me so much when I am the first person to admit that Bortkiewicz was no innovator whatsoever? I often have found the work of artistic epigones to be interesting but with the exception of that enigmatic amateur who was belatedly discovered to be the actual composer (van Wassenaer) of some of the most admired works previously thought to be by Pergolesi -- the Concerti Harmonici, I have found no other works of such an obscure and equally "unoriginal" composer to exert such a fascination. To answer this fully may be impossible and may ultimately be a matter of individual judgment, but as for me, I can only point to a few things. First, the obscurity of Bortkiewicz, as opposed to Rachmaninoff, for example, stems in large measure from the unfortunate circumstances that he found himself in, having to move or endure the successive events of WWI (as a Russian he had to leave Germany where he studied and taught), the Russian Revolution (he was born into a landowning family and thus was forced to emigrate), the Nazi era (forced to leave Berlin because of his Slavic background), and WWII, which he spent in Vienna, where bombing destroyed most copies of his music (thus depriving him of most of his income), his piano, and left him with only one livable heated room in his apartment, his bathroom. At the conclusion of the war the occupying Soviets nearly had him and many of his neighbors shot until they were convinced of his Russian origins. Secondly, "originality" is not simply a matter of inventing new harmonies, rhythms, or forms, but often lies in the effective use of pre-existing materials, sometimes even in the greatest of composers -- consider the preeminent example of Bach, who may not have "invented" any such tangible entities (with the important exception of the keyboard concerto), but instead exploited existing techniques to maximal advantage. Finally, while the individual stylistic features of Bortkiewicz's work certainly first appeared in various other composers, such as Chopin, Schumann, or Chaikovsky, I nevertheless find Bortkiewicz's own voice coming through very distinctively -- he did, indeed, have his own style. Rather than some pallid echo or pastiche of other minor Slavic or German masters, each piece recorded here seems to invoke the emotions directly but unindulgently. In fact, Bortkiewicz quite consciously stated his unabashed preference for melody and tonality, eschewing later developments.Cyprien Katsaris makes a fine selection that spans many of the Ukrainian-born composer's piano collections (Bortkiewicz's primary compositional focus), adding his own arrangement of a Spanish-tinged piece for violin and piano as a conclusion. Katsaris's interpretations flow very convincingly, and he brings out all aspects of each work as well as one can possibly imagine. For instance, he carefully controls the very gradual crescendo of the first of the Op. 33 preludes in order to further enhance the intensity of that work's climax. The purely musical element remains uppermost even in Katsaris's most virtuosic readings, such as the etude of Op. 65, which the pianist plays effortlessly faster and more brilliantly than Stephen Coombs's still fine performance on Hyperion.In sum, I would highly recommend this disk to all who can suspend judgment against music's "followers"."

A Rare Collection

Hamilton Carver | 04/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sergei Bortkiewicz's music has aspects of Chopin, Scriabin and some Rachmaninoff in them, call it a blanding of 3 of the greatest composers if you wish.



His 10 Etudes Op.15 No.8 is perhaps his most famous work, which was originally performed by pianist and composer Moriz Rosenthal to perfection. Of course, Rosenthal was one of the better pianist of his time and Cyperien Katsaris is a great pianist of our time. Two different periods perfecting this etude is a feat meant for walking on water.



Bortkiewicz has so many beautiful piano pieces, some of them are included in his CD collection, his Lamentation and Consolation collection are short, but amazingly lyrical. Another lyrical piece is his Prelude Op.33 No.8 which was performed so admirably in this CD that you can feel your skin crawl!



It was disappointing that Hyperion Records discontinued the Bortkiewicz Piano Music CDs. I was really looking forward to listening to his lost Piano Sonata No.2 which was recently found, but has yet to be performed or recorded."