Fugitive Visions = DEBUSSY: Four Preludes; HAYDN: Sonata in F Major; LISZT: Variations on a Theme of Bach, “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen,” S. 179 – Ivan Ilic, piano – Marie De Paris, 41:45 www.IvanCDG.com ****:
Ivan Ilic (b. 1981) is a pupil of Francois-Rene Duchable and has made a considerable career in Paris. This rather Spartan production I received has no liner notes or timings, just flattering poses of the pianist that could been used to audition him in a movie by Truffaut. Having heard Ilic’s recording of Debussy preludes, I could already attest to the poise this young pianist brings to Debussy’s sound world, aided by canny pedaling that makes Les collines d’Anacapri alternately hazy and liquidly lucid. Des pas de la neige conveys its requisite subtle angst, like a sketch by Edvard Munch. Clarion, sensual progressions mark the Tristan evocations of La cathedrale engloutie, and we can hear the water dripping from the risen structure above the waves. The world of Ys resonates without having become overly emotional, as a cool detachment reigns, especially as the edifice gradually resumes its place amidst the lulling waves. Feux d’artifice whirls and glistens in a flurry of controlled nervous effects, the keyboard sound brilliant yet pedaled to produce a thin caul over the mercurial visions.
The Haydn sonata proves a model of galant clarity, delicate, pert, motorically riveting. The slight adjustments to dynamics and metric accent only add to the pungent and witty delights with which the opening Allegro moderato abounds. Rounded periods and suave filigree, especially in the trills and mordants, compel our admiration. The Adagio seems to rise from some Baroque impulse, almost Albinoni or Corelli, in its liquid pearly purity. A playful Finale: Presto engages us with its sparkling irreverence for rhythmic niceties, stopping and starting in ways which must have gladdened Beethoven’s equally mischievous heart.
Liszt composed his Variations on Bach’s Cantata No. 12 “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen” (S. 673) in Rome, 1862. The torturous chromatic line of the original undergoes a series of startling transformations in which the piano clearly must pretend to be an organ. The writing, passacaglia style, becomes quite thick, even murderous, considering the piece was written after the death of Liszt’s eldest daughter, Blandine. There are thirty variants, many involving three-hand effects. Liszt’s often audacious exploration of tonality more than once leaves the realm of comfort and points to the Second Viennese School. From ostinato triplets Liszt asks for stark octave writing that culminates in a hymn taken from Bach’s cantata: “Was Gott tut, das ist wohl getan.” Reverential and inflamed, Ilic’s performance marks a major studious talent with intelligent instincts at every turn.
— Gary Lemco
