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RE: Two really nice piano recordings

Posted by Chris from Lafayette (A) on July 9, 2013 at 22:26:38

In Reply to: Two really nice piano recordings posted by srl1 on July 7, 2013 at 13:04:29:

Yes - I just listened to them on Spotify and I agree. I'm especially surprised by Ammara's Ravel disc, and you're so right that the recording quality is WAY better than on her Schumann SACD. But also her playing itself is really an advance on her Schumann disc: her Ravel playing contains all sorts of new insights and a sovereign control of tone and articulation, just as you suggest. That dynamic change about two minutes in to Le Gibet is more startling than I can recall in anyone else's performance, and very effective. I don't remember if I've mentioned it, but in 2001, Ammara was a competitor in the Cliburn Competition and did not make it into the finals. (That was the year the Russians won all the top prizes.) Anyway, Jon Nakamatsu's teacher, Marina Derryberry, was scandalized that Ammara was denied her place in the finals, saying "They don't pass Alessandra into the finals, and yet they let that nobody, Olga Kern, in!" ;-)

Another interesting thing about Alessandra is that she apparently dropped out of sight shortly after the Cliburn Competition, in order to raise a family, and has only recently begun to concertize in earnest again. I think that's something that's easier for a pianist to do than for a singer. I remember that soprano Elisabeth Söderström did the same thing, but she was not nearly as fine a singer when she returned to the concert hall and recording studio, at least IMHO.

I didn't listen to all of the Grynyuk album, but what I heard (last third of the Sonata, Mephisto Waltz, Paganini Etude) was excellent, and my wife couldn't stop raving about the Liszt Sonata - she thought the part we heard was as good or better than any other performance she's familiar with. And I must say, the "devilish" parts of the Mephisto Waltz are played with electrifying speed and clarity - and you're right about the consistent forward momentum (at least from what we heard). Grynyuk is another pianist with a history at the Cliburn competition - in 2005, he did not even get past the first round! I notice too that Grynyuk is featured as an assisting artist in a couple of Nicola's albums - most recently, "The Silver Violin", where he appears on four tracks.

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