Arnold Schoenberg / Maurizio Pollini
Das Klavierwerk · The Piano Music

★★★½

Schoenberg is one of those Modern Classical composers that I have yet to tackle really, and I decided to start with his piano pieces. Of course like what I expected it's fairly academic, but there are little moments here and there that break this mathematical academia. Pollini doesn't hold himself back, he plays this music emotionally; obviously the music of Schoenberg was important to him and he plays these pieces with joy and love. 

With "3 Piano Pieces op.11" and "6 Little Piano Pieces op.19", Pollini plays these atonal songs with a sense of quietness and respect, the recording might even seem a bit ominous; surely to foreshadow what would follow. This being "5 Piano Pieces op.23", which is both ambitious and confident; there's a certain sense of power that you can feel Pollini express with each touch of the key. He's an interpreter who (like all great interpreters) adds his own bias into the mix of the compositions. 

The following "Suite for Piano op.25" is some of the most lively music on this collection. It displays Schoenberg at some of his most chaotic but that's only in certain moments, the majority of it is careful and articulate. That is of course, until it seems to explode with an almost jazz-like burst of playing on the seventh movement; which perfectly brings the suite to a close. The last two pieces stand alone and are quite brief but very meticulous and emotional. 

All in all this still is a very academic and atonal compilation of some of Schoenberg's music for the piano; of course you never expect him to compromise his style in exchange for popular demand. But in some ways Pollini brings this to the table, he plays this challenging and unique music with a sort of traditional and warm style. This certainly gives Schoenberg's music new life and is all the more interesting because of it. 

Favorite Song: Suite for Piano op.25

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Jo David Meyer Lysne & Mats Eilertsen Kroksjø     ★★★½   Jo David Meyer Lysne and Mats Eilertsen are two Norwegian musicians who have come together once more, on the Hubro music label (also originating from Norway). This encounter seems to place focus on the textural environment and less so on the improvisation techniques of Lysne (on acoustic guitar) and Eilertsen (on bass). The title Kroksjø is the Norwegian word for an oxbow lake, in which a "U" shaped lake is formed after being cut off from a river. Lysne has stated that these geological formations helped inspire this endeavor and that he views them as a symbol of the artistic effort, being impermanent and forever changing. Hypnotic motifs are lost and found on this record, and with the help of a turntable, the comfort of physical home audio is brought forward. Sounds from the natural world and folk musings seep through to the heart of this record, providing points of focus that solidify t...
Read more
Image
Jason Lescalleet The Pilgrim ★ ★ ★★ Everything I've been listening to has been really great recently. This is a very heavy and somber record by Jason Lescalleet. Part of the newer cohort of abstract electronic music, he's known for working with people like Graham Lambkin and Kevin Drumm. This class of individuals have been creating intense and vivid textures in their music with the help of outside sources, mostly field recordings. That concept is also utilized here but not in the usual manner.  Summed up, this album is about the relationship Jason had with his father, and a sort of memorial in remembrance of his passing. It's not easy to create an artistic project like this for anyone, in any medium or platform. Especially not in the niche and sometimes conceptual subgenre that Lescalleet resides in. But he does it beautifully and in great effect. The album starts off with a spoken introduction bye Lescalleet describing how his father felt about his mus...
Read more
Image
Fred Frith Guitar Solos ★★★½ When done right, guitar improvisations can be among my favorite form of music and sound. A key player in that field is Derek Bailey; his music has transformed the way I've understood improvised music especially that of the guitar. Now I haven't gotten around to listening to Fred Frith's music under his own name, but now is the time with his solo debut. I've known about Frith through his work in Art Bears and Zorn's group years later, but I didn't find him very memorable or outstanding. So I went into this album without a clear idea or bias regarding his music, though the album cover really did grab my attention. I heard that Frith was a classically trained violinist before beginning to play the guitar, and I think he brings in some of that 20th century theme regarding sound on this record. Frith is diverse, and it shows with the techniques he uses here as well as the instruments he plays on other projects. Each piece s...
Read more