CHOPIN: Late Masterpieces = Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60; Mazurka in F Minor, Op. 63, No. 2; Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 63, No. 3; Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 67, No. 4; Mazurka in F Minor, OP. 68, No. 4; Polonaise-Fantasy in A-flat Major, Op. 61; Nocturne in B Major, Op. 62, No. 1; Nocturne in E Major, Op. 62, No. 2; Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58; Berceuse in D-flat Major, Op. 57 – Stephen Hough, piano – Hyperion CDA67764, 73:08 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****:
In the glut of Chopin recordings celebrating the composer’s bicentennial, a few recordings are bound to stand out, and this is decidedly one of them. Not that the programming proves all that unique, but Hough’s readings (rec. 4-6 May 2009), expressive, intensely concentrated, and beautifully articulated, cast a sense of poetry in every bar, and the rendition of the Polonaise-Fantasy marks Hough as a Chopin proponent of the first rank.
While the major work, the B Minor Sonata (1844), stands out as Chopin’s concession to established form, his late pieces generally conform to the formula expressed by Artur Rubinstein, an “iconoclastic classicism,” symmetries molded after Chopin’s unique musical imagination. Hough imposes a high gloss on the first movement of the sonata, indulging both its sinewy aggression and its reflective lyricism. A strong sense of Bach’s counterpoint moves through the compressed labyrinths of thought as the upward steps progress to the rolling arpeggios and liquid trilled introspection in the secondary theme. Whether sonata-form or elaborate nocturne, the music by Hough communicates the poetic impulse, assured and resonant,. The brilliantly skittish character of the E-flat Scherzo flutters like a transparent etude ending in dark chords. Its own counter-theme throbs with subdued contrapuntal life, a learned mazurka. Attacca to the expansive B Major Largo, a study in martial energies expressed as a gauzy nocturne that first and last sings bel canto.
Hough attacks the turbulent Finale: Presto with vigor, its hanging dominant 7th chord and galloping rhythm inviting a steamy passion from the accented first and third beats of the B Minor theme. Hough slows down the pulse momentarily, only to reignite the sense of monumental force that refuses to relinquish its emotional grip despite the B Major will to triumph.
An entirely different order of sound emanates from the 1843 Berceuse, a four-bar theme that evokes infinite degrees of ornament, much anticipating its kindred spirit in the B Major Nocturne, Op. 62, No. 1. Hough’s music-box rendition of the Berceuse seems cognizant of his fellow British artist of two generation ago, Solomon’s exquisite repose in this same piece. The Barcarolle (1846) calls on Hough’s ability to glide a highly ornate lyric in plastic applications of a basic pulse, here a gondola rhythm interspersed with trills and cascading scales that often invoke the affect of an evanescent tripartite nocturne. The ever-intricate Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat (1845) requires a colossal tension from Hough to maintain its meandering elements and the polonaise rhythm that underlies a most elaborate harmonic scheme. Hough successfully fuses its diverse impulses–fantasy, ballade, nocturne, polonaise–into an organic and passionate entity whose intrinsic power announces Hough’s status as a ‘Chopinist’ of the first order.
Many pianists who address the most innate of Chopin’s forms–the mazurka–perform them with a ‘foreign accent,’ to paraphrase my mentor Carmine Arena. Hough pays particular attention to the soft agogics that mark these mercurial explorations of dance rhythm and advanced chromatic harmony. The A Minor, Op. 67, No. 4 reveals a demure femininity most captivating, a salon rather than folk expression. A brief canon sparks the C-sharp Minor Mazurka, Op. 63, No. 3, whose lilting cadences often belie the Polish national dance and become a Viennese waltz. The miniature tone-poem, Op. 68, No. 4, published posthumously, denies its harmonic basis enough to query its immediate influence on Scriabin.
The two Nocturnes, Op. 62 (1846) alternate ornamental syncopated intricacy and melodic-rhythmic arioso gentility. Chopin’s occasional insertion of canonic devices pass by seamlessly, the counterpoint as natural as anything in baroque practice, yet the melodic flux remains quintessentially romantic. The E Major makes passing allusions to prior nocturnes in its stately and whimsically flourished progression, a poised but inflamed expression that Hough negotiates with fervid aplomb. A most satisfying paean to Chopin’s mature style, elegantly rendered. Excellent piano sound courtesy of engineer Simon Eadon.
–Gary Lemco