Perspectives 7 / Haefliger
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Perspectives 7 / Haefliger

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Details

Composer
BEETHOVEN BERG LISZT
Artist
Andreas Haefliger
Format
SACD
Discs
1
Label
BIS
Released
May 11, 2018
Catalog #
BIS-2307
UPC
7318599923079

About

BIS takes over from Avie presenting Andreas Haefliger’s ongoing (albeit slowly unfolding) Perspectives releases, a series that encompasses intelligent and often unexpected juxtapositions of mixed repertoire. As with its predecessors, Volume 7 features one Beethoven sonata. Haefliger’s careful phrasing and attention to voice leading makes a case for his muted and reflective way with Op. 101’s first movement, although he undermines the music’s undercurrents of energy and subito dynamics. At first the gnarly march movement seems dynamically constricted, yet the obsessive dotted rhythms gather momentum through Haefliger’s spot-on balances, pointed articulation of trills, and attention to transitional passages; it’s closer to Wilhelm Kempff’s caustic perception than, say, the nervous tension of Ernst Levy or the best of Vladimir Horowitz’s myriad live versions. And the difficult fourth-movement Fugue’s contrapuntal strands take on a woodwind-like character under Haefliger’s agile fingers.

The pianist has obviously lived with and “lived in” Berg’s Sonata for some time. At least that’s the impression he conveys in the exposition, where the primary lines and imitative rejoinders intertwine in relaxed conversation. The thick-textured development section sacrifices headlong urgency for top-to-bottom clarity. Similarly, Haefliger shapes the ebb of lyrical phrases and fluttering birdsong caressingly yet never indulgently in Liszt’s St. Francis Légende No. 1.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition abounds with interesting and illuminating interpretive ideas. For example, Haefliger’s rhetorical underlinings in Gnomus reinforce the music’s menacing yet mysterious character. The third Promenade is not loudly declaimed, but deliberate and reticent. Ritards at phrase endings impart an aptly hesitant quality to the Tuileries’ middle section, and there’s a welcome dramatic specificity in the gradual diminuendo at the end of Bydlo. The Unhatched Chicks ballet is lightning-quick and almost deadpan in the way that Haefliger maintains the tempo throughout the central section: most pianists slightly broaden the tempo.

On the other hand, the pianist softens the intended sting of Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle’s repeated-note sequence. But he resists the temptation to speed through the Limoges marketplace, taking a tempo that allows for the climactic broken chords to clearly register and resonate. However, I miss the final two movements’ potential for dynamism and orchestral impact that thrill me in the recordings by Ashkenazy, Berman, Bronfman, and, of course, the sonically grungy yet interpretively amazing live 1958 Sofia performance by Sviatoslav Richter.

In the end, Haefliger’s mastery, intelligence, and stylistic breadth deserve admiration and respect. I also should mention the concert hall realism of BIS’ engineering , together with this SACD’s unusually generous 86-plus minutes of playing time.

– ClassicsToday (Jed Distler)

Tracklist 22 tracks

  1. 1 Piano Sonata, Op. 1 14:33
    Track
    1
    Title
    Piano Sonata, Op. 1
    Duration
    14:33
    Composer
    Alban Berg
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  2. 2 2 Légendes, S175/R17: No. 1. St. François d'Assise - La prédication aux oiseaux 10:39
    Track
    2
    Title
    2 Légendes, S175/R17: No. 1. St. François d'Assise - La prédication aux oiseaux
    Duration
    10:39
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  3. 3 I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung 04:47
    Track
    3
    Title
    I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung
    Duration
    04:47
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  4. 4 II. Lebhaft. Marschmäßig 06:12
    Track
    4
    Title
    II. Lebhaft. Marschmäßig
    Duration
    06:12
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  5. 5 III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll 03:34
    Track
    5
    Title
    III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  6. 6 IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit 07:52
    Track
    6
    Title
    IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit
    Duration
    07:52
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  7. 7 Promenade 01:33
    Track
    7
    Title
    Promenade
    Duration
    01:33
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  8. 8 I. Gnomus 03:06
    Track
    8
    Title
    I. Gnomus
    Duration
    03:06
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  9. 9 Promenade 01:05
    Track
    9
    Title
    Promenade
    Duration
    01:05
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  10. 10 II. Old Castle 04:40
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Old Castle
    Duration
    04:40
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  11. 11 Promenade 00:38
    Track
    11
    Title
    Promenade
    Duration
    00:38
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  12. 12 III. Tuileries 01:00
    Track
    12
    Title
    III. Tuileries
    Duration
    01:00
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  13. 13 IV. Bydlo 03:04
    Track
    13
    Title
    IV. Bydlo
    Duration
    03:04
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  14. 14 Promenade 01:03
    Track
    14
    Title
    Promenade
    Duration
    01:03
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  15. 15 V. Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells 00:59
    Track
    15
    Title
    V. Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells
    Duration
    00:59
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  16. 16 VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle 02:34
    Track
    16
    Title
    VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
    Duration
    02:34
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  17. 17 Promenade 01:40
    Track
    17
    Title
    Promenade
    Duration
    01:40
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  18. 18 VII. The Market-Place at Limoges 01:22
    Track
    18
    Title
    VII. The Market-Place at Limoges
    Duration
    01:22
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  19. 19 VIII. Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum) - 02:37
    Track
    19
    Title
    VIII. Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum) -
    Duration
    02:37
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  20. 20 VIII. Con mortuis in lingua mortua 02:49
    Track
    20
    Title
    VIII. Con mortuis in lingua mortua
    Duration
    02:49
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  21. 21 IX. The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yaga) 03:25
    Track
    21
    Title
    IX. The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yaga)
    Duration
    03:25
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger
  22. 22 X. The Great Gate at Kiev 06:15
    Track
    22
    Title
    X. The Great Gate at Kiev
    Duration
    06:15
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Performer
    Andreas Haefliger