WGBH Radio WGBH Radio theclassicalstation.org

Pletnev In Person

Beethoven / Bach / Schubert / Chopin / Pletnev
Release Date: 10/08/2013 
Label:  Onyx (Classical Label) Catalog #: 4110   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Franz Liszt,  Franz Schubert,  Ludwig van Beethoven,  Johann Sebastian Bach,   ... 
Performer:  Mikhail Pletnev
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 2 Mins. 

Low Stock: Currently 3 or fewer in stock. Usually ships in 24 hours, unless stock becomes depleted.  

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; Read more 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

Read less

Works on This Recording

1.
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. 
2.
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. 
3.
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. 
4.
Partita for Violin solo no 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: 5th movement, Chaconne by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:  Mikhail Pletnev (Piano)
Period: Baroque 
Written: circa 1720; Cöthen, Germany 
 Date of Recording: 11/1996 
Venue:  Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg-Harburg 
Length: 14 Minutes 48 Secs. 
5.
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. 
6.
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. 

Customer Reviews

Be the first to review this title
Review This Title
Review This Title Share on Facebook