EARL WILD: The Piano Music of Earl Wild – Xiayin Wang, Piano – Chandos CHA10626 (Distr. by Naxos) *****:
You know you’re in musical wonderland when Earl Wild’s variations on George Gershwin’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So” begins with an opulent flourish. One that has nothing to do with the melody. That comes a bit later and Wild really has fun with it: he warps it, improvises upon it, throws grace notes at it like peacock feathers, then stretches it like salt water taffy. And that’s only one piece in his “Grand Fantasy on ‘Porgy and Bess.’” All the others are similarly uninhibited. Not since Oscar Peterson performed “George Gershwin’s Song-Book” (from 1934) have there been so many intoxicating flourishes in those famous dozen. Wild composed these variations in 1976 and they’re the best Gershwin ones I’ve ever heard.
Ah, there’s more. His “Seven Virtuoso Etudes” are renditions of songs that Gershwin himself varied in his song-book, like “Lady Be Good” and “Fascinating Rhythm.” Gershwin’s variations of the latter may be longer but it’s no more, well, fascinating than Wild’s. Each of these is breathtakingly (and flawlessly) performed by Xiayin Wang, who doesn’t just interpret these pieces but inhabits them, make wry and furious love to them. Later, when she performs the 12-minute “Someone to Watch Over Me,” she pulls off every amazing stunt the music calls for, like the “Barcarolle’s” right-handed trills played simultaneously with its left-handed melodies. Without taking a breath, she leaps through the “Brazilian Dance” and then into the “Tango” section, both of which change speed more often than a New England nor’easter. I would love to see her perform this.
Wild’s “Piano Sonata” is a voyage across a tempestuous harbor. Unlike the other pieces, it lacks familiar melodies, so you can get lost in its rhythmic tangles the first time you hear it. But stay with it and you will be rewarded with wonderful pacing and delicate phrasing alternating with ingeniously restated themes. Sadly, this is his only piano sonata. But before he died, Wild composed a suite of belly dances for piano solo. The man knew no limits! We can only hope that piece is recorded soon.
TrackList:
Grand Fantasy on Porgy and Bess
7 Virtuoso Etudes after Gershwin
Theme and Variations on Gershwin’s Someone to watch over me
Piano Sonata
— Peter Bates
