Balakirev: Islamey - Oriental Fantasy

"Sheer talent does not come more transparently and, to top it all, harmonia mundi's sound is of demonstration refinement and quality." (The Gramophone)

“[Gergiev] bring[s] out Rimsky's crystalline solo textures, such as the passages for solo cello, horn and woodwinds in the first movement. And if tempos are slow in the first three movements, Gergiev makes up for lost time in the fiery, bristling fourth, which becomes a tour-de-force for an orchestra clearly at the height of its powers” Matthew Shorter, bbc.co.uk, 25th February 2003

“Recorded under live conditions but without an audience in St Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, this Scheherazade is the most red-blooded, exciting account of Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral warhorse currently available, helped by full, immediate sound of a richness rare in Russian recordings. The magnetism is established from the start, with Gergiev completely dispelling the feeling that this is a work which keeps stopping and starting too often for its own good. Consistently you register that these are players who have the music in their blood, with rubato naturally inflected. In expressive freedom Gergiev is often less extreme than Reiner or Karajan, as in the quasi recitando bassoon solo near the start of the second movement or the espressivo oboe solo which follows, in which Gergiev notes also the atempo marking, keeping it steady. The virtuosity of the St Petersburg soloists conveys an edge-ofseat tension, particularly when Gergiev opts for challengingly fast speeds in the climactic passages of the second and fourth movements.
This is a work written over only a few weeks, and far more than usual this is a performance that, defying the many changes of tempo, conveys that urgency of inspiration. Yet Gergiev brings out points of detail in the brilliant instrumentation normally bypassed, as in the upward glissando for the cellos in the opening section of the third movement, either ignored or merely hinted at by others.
Two points might be counted controversial.
The tempo for that opening section of the third movement, 'The Young Prince and Princess', is markedly slower than with the others. Yet in context Gergiev conjures extra contrast with the other movements. The other point is that, though the recorded sound has spectacular weight and power over the widest range, it's clear that reverberation has been added to a recording made in a relatively dry theatre acoustic. Happily, it doesn't get in the way of orchestral detail. Both performance and recording, whatever the acoustic juggling, have a power that pins you back in your seat.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Delectable playing of Balakirev's Piano Sonata and his Liszt-like paraphrase of Life for the Tsar, though the notoriously virtuosic Islamey sounds efficient rather than exhilarating.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2012 ****

“Fisher's decision to fashion a recital from the works of all five has considerable appeal.Their piano music varies in quality, however...Borodin's Petite Suite comes over as a work of exquisite grace and melodic charm that deserves to be much better known. It suits Fisher's refined style rather well, too. As with the music, so his playing tends to variability. Islamey is dazzling. Pictures is very reined in and meditative” The Guardian, 12th May 2011 ****

“It was a good idea to group the piano works of five composers who played a vital role in the evolution of Russian music, for they offer variety aplenty. In “Pictures at an Exhibition” Fisher’s easy-on-the-ear musicality more than compensates for his lack of temperamental swagger and thunderous tone.” Financial Times, 14th May 2011 ***

“Pictures is given a fine, muscular performance without being outstanding; Islamey boasts transparently clear textures at the expense of spine-tingling bravura...An interesting concept to have keyboard works from each of 'The Five' ranged alongside one another on the same disc” Classic FM Magazine, July 2011 ***

“Fisher gives thoroughly compelling performances of both Pictures and Islamey, finding apt characterisation and colour in the Mussorgsky without falling into the trap, as some pianists have done, of trying to reinvent the music...[Islamey] comes across with a winning mix of allure and brilliance. the disc reveals an intriguing facet of a coterie of composers generally remembered for their orchestral music and operas.” The Telegraph, 9th June 2011 *****

“[Pictures and Islamey] give him a chance to show off his virtuosity and assured technique...Still, the real interest here resides in the more modest works that come in between...This music may be light, but it still stands up to repeated listening.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2011 ****

“Goldenweiser's greatest student, Grigory Ginzburg (1904-61), clearly resembles his teacher in some ways: his tone is solid, his technical craft everywhere apparent, and his identification with the music beyond reproach. …even when the going would be heavy for most pianists, Ginzburg has a musical or expressive purpose that cuts deeper than mere showmanship.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2009 *****

“…Grigory Ginzburg's… legendary performance of the Mozart / Liszt Figaro Fantasy remains a marvel and stylised elegance and dazzling fluency.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008

“The pianist Freddy Kempf looks poetic and serious on the cover photo. He’s also straining for effect in these performances. In the Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition he settles too quickly for the brilliance that screams and thumps. There’s some of that, too, in the finale to Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit, though the hanged man in Le Gibet is barely sensed. Still, he can be subtle, and Balakirev’s Islamey, the virtuoso’s nightmare, comes off well” The Times, 20th June 2008 ***

“Freddy Kempf's forthright performances of all three [works] contain some impressive moments, and his mastery of the technical challenges in the works is formidable, but in each case individuality and character are in short supply. There's plenty of colour in Pictures, and a high degree of characterisation, but little of the physicality and teetering excitement that Richter's famous live recording has in bucketfuls, while the subtly shifting textures of Ravel's three fantasy portraits are too prosaic for music that should glimmer and glitter in an almost intangible and indefinable way.” The Guardian, 18th July 2008 ***

“Freddy Kempf here tackles three giants of the piano repertoire and conquers them with spirit and imagination. Armed with all the necessary technical resources, he is able to bring colour and well-defined character to Pictures from an Exhibition, revealing how ingeniously Mussorgsky exploited the piano's palette of sound without the aid of all those later arrangers who chose to embellish it with orchestral timbres. One of those was Ravel, whose Gaspard de la nuit here glows, ripples and, in "Scarbo", bristles with malevolence. The bravura of Balakirev's Islamey is brilliant.” The Telegraph, 12th July 2008

“For fans of the contemporary virtuoso, this disc is not only stupendously recorded, but a sign that standards these days are extraordinarily high in this area.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 ****

“…a formidable programme formidably played. This is "live" virtuosity with a vengeance, with absolutely no hint of a safety net, of playing within studio confines.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008

“After a perhaps necessary break Freddy Kempf returns to the studio armed with a formidable programme formidably played. In the Mussorgsky his immense energy and facility allows him an unusual degree of freedom with a brisk opening Promenade followed by an unleashing of his virtuoso credentials in 'Gnomus'. He takes a uniformly forte view of 'Bydlo' (though his final fading of the vision is masterly). And so, too, is his enviable verve in both 'Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks' and 'Limoges'. 'Baba Yaga' is boldly characterised, and there is a dramatic splash of colour, a sudden pedal haze at 1'12” in 'The Great Gate of Kiev'.
In Ravel's Gaspard every teeming complexity is resolved with the coolest of mind and hands.
You may query a lack of rhetoric or broadening at the climax of 'Ondine' (it is marked un peu pluslent) and a less than fully sympathetic way with the many piano and pianissimo markings in 'Scarbo'. Yet this is among the finer recordings of this much-recorded masterpiece. In Balakirev's Islamey Kempf relishes everything the composer throws at him. This is 'live' virtuosity with a vengeance, with absolutely no hint of a safety net, of playing within studio confines.
A superb, brilliant-toned Steinway has been captured in admirable sound, and this recital is among the finest of Freddy Kempf's offerings to date.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010