Notes and Editorial Reviews
These Mikhail Pletnev recordings stem from Deutsche Grammophon session breaks and warm-ups, where the pianist spontaneously tossed off whole pieces for his own pleasure, from memory, and with no editing. Pletnev has authorized some for publication, on condition that listeners take their casual origins and intentions into consideration. Listeners sympathetic to Pletnev’s affetuoso temperament will embrace the performances with open arms.
The Beethoven A major sonata (a work new to Pletnev’s discography) is full of tapered phrasings and fancy nuances, yet Pletnev’s supple technique and textural transparency are bound to keep aspiring Beethoven players humble;
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and listen to how he avoids the common temptation to swoon into the Rondo’s main theme. The Bach/Busoni Chaconne is rhythmically freer and far more sectionalized than in Pletnev’s later, more unified live Carnegie Hall performance released by DG. On the other hand, the Chopin/Liszt Maiden’s Wish better absorbs Pletnev’s capricious lingerings, speed-ups, and slow-downs.
Listeners familiar with Pletnev’s gorgeous solo Tchaikovsky recordings won’t be surprised at the elegant, controlled romanticism he brings to the C-sharp minor Nocturne and Course en troika. A brisk and slightly facile Schubert E-flat Impromptu leads into an account of the same composer’s G-flat Impromptu that abounds with extreme rubatos and intricate voicings. Somehow it manages to sound organic and poetic rather than contrived and vulgar, even with the inauthentic seventh chord in measure five that held sway before the Urtext police took over. The booklet notes include an essay about Pletnev that reeks of pretentious platitudes and philosophical twaddle.
-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com
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Works on This Recording
1.
Sonata for Piano no 2 in A major, Op. 2 no 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Mikhail Pletnev (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1794-1795; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 11/1996
Venue: Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg-Harburg
Length: 23 Minutes 53 Secs.
2.
Partita No. 2 in D minor, for solo violin, BWV 1004: Chaconne by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Mikhail Pletnev (Piano)
Period: Baroque
Written: 1720; Germany
Date of Recording: 11/1996
Venue: Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg-Harburg
Length: 14 Minutes 48 Secs.
3.
6 Chants polonais, S 480: Zyczenie (A Maiden's Wish) by Franz Liszt
Performer:
Mikhail Pletnev (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1859
Date of Recording: 06/2005
Venue: Stadtcasino (Musiksaal), Basel
Length: 3 Minutes 37 Secs.
4.
6 Pieces, Op. 19: No. 4. Nocturne in C sharp minor by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
Mikhail Pletnev (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1873
Date of Recording: 06/2005
Venue: Stadtcasino (Musiksaal), Basel
Length: 4 Minutes 13 Secs.
5.
The Seasons, Op. 37b: No. 11: November - Course en troika (On the Troika) by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
Mikhail Pletnev (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1875-1876; Russia
Date of Recording: 06/2005
Venue: Stadtcasino (Musiksaal), Basel
Length: 3 Minutes 31 Secs.
6.
Impromptus (4) for Piano, D 899/Op. 90 by Franz Schubert
Performer:
Mikhail Pletnev (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1827; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 06/1998
Venue: Villa Senar, Weggis, Lucerne
Length: 10 Minutes 53 Secs.
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