Not ideal
C. P. Cooman | Cambridge, MA USA | 07/28/2008
(2 out of 5 stars)
"The immensely talented pianist Ralph van Raat has recorded excellent albums of piano music by John Adams and Frederic Rzewski for Naxos. Having enjoyed some pieces from John Tavener's relatively small output of solo piano music, I was thus looking forward to this disc. It is, however, a disappointment.
The finest work of Tavener's piano catalogue is the gorgoeus "Ypakoë", a mystical meditation on the Passion and Resurrection that integrates a beautiful chorale-like idea (taken from his motet "As one who hast slept") with the ecstatic sounds of trills and bells.
Van Raat's rushed interpretation of this work, however, is completely lacking in the spaciousness and fervor required for this piece. Tavener's published score lists its duration at about 21 minutes; van Raat takes only about 13.5 minutes, leaping headlong, without poetry, through the work. [It has been pointed out to me, quite correctly, that the liner notes do contain a brief sentence referring to the fact that Tavener supervised these recording sessions and made some changes to the scores. However, whether the tempo choice was Van Raat's or Tavener's, I stand by the musical assertion that it robs one of his most beautiful piano scores of its mystery and beauty.]
For an ideal performance of "Ypakoë," Elena Riu's disc "Piano Icons for the 21st Century" (Linn Records) is the one to buy. The work was written for and premiered by her.
The other major work on the disc is the recent "Pratirupa", a piece which Tavener created in versions both for piano alone and piano with string orchestra. Van Raat's performance of this work is more compelling than his rendition of "Ypakoë", but the piece is not one of Tavener's stronger compositions. It rambles, without partaking of the sublime beauty of his finest works. Furthermore, it is substantially more effective (and colorful) in the version with strings.
The other works on the disc are small pieces of varied character -- appealing in their simplicity, but not reason enough to purchase the disc.
I will look forward to exploring Van Raat's recordings of other repertoire but cannot recommend this disc."
