Search - Bedrich Smetana, Walter Klein, Walter Klien :: Smetana: Polkas

PROBABLE CAUSE

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 07/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Swiss 1989 Tuxedo reissue of a plausible, and forgotten, Vox Records production from 1964 unearths a youthful Walter Klien performance, a rare treat indeed, worthy of twofold excitement and glee, especially for those of us who have followed this pianist without knowing of or hearing his take on these ingratiating Smetana polkas, including the composer's most romantic, introspective works (Opp. 7, 8 and 12). Delightfully, Klien's way with Smetana is organic and luminous, simultaneously; his interplay between idiom and irresistible individuality endows these amiable dances with a captivating Slavic angst that, in tandem with a curious self-assurance, incurs the palpable spirit of Chopin. No mean feat, this. Interpretations such as Klien's belie the notion that these pieces are merely inconsequential fluff. It's quite the contrary rather, which makes it all the more inconceivable that the polkas are so infrequently recorded. Fittingly, and providentially, Klien now joins the meager ranks of fellow pianists dipping into arcane Smetana.



[Running time: 47:29]















"