Hindemith, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Szymanowski / E. Starodubtsev (Piano)

[Coll]: Hindemith, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Szymanowski / Evgeny Starodubtsev (Piano)
Label: Honens

Larry K.
Reviewed: 2011-11-17

EVGENY STARODUBTSEV: HINDEMITH, SCHOENBERG, STRAVINSKY, SZYMANOWSKI
Label: Honens 2011

Pianist Evgeny Starodubtsev, a Laureate of the 2009 Honens International Piano Competition (a prestigious, tri-ennial Calgary, Canada competition), studied in Moscow and now performs and composes. Karol Szymanowski’s 3-mvmt Masques Op. 34 (1915/1916) blends Debussy and Scriabin in creating an imaginary masquerade with well-known characters. Hindemith stays with tonality and parodies pop music of the early 1920s. Schoenberg shows he has driven a stake into the heart of tonality, with spiky harmonies and jagged melodies. Stravinsky gives us spare, clear, tonal but bluntly anti-Romantic neoclassical pieces.

Szymanowski, Karol: Masques Op. 34.
(9:01) Scherherazde. Tales ethereal, agitated, whimsical
(5:44) Tantris le bouffon. Prancing, dissonant, cartwheeling, giggling, sly
(6:17) Serenade de Don Juan. The Spanish seducer plies his trade
Hindemith, Paul: Suite ‘1922’ Op. 26
(1:19) March. Joyful, antic march
(3:23) Shimmy. Shake it, flaunt it, insouciantly at times
(6:39) Nachstrück. Thoughtful, somber night, moonlit
(5:21) Boston. Dissonant 20’s jazz in a minor key
(2:17) Ragtime. The clown dances and gaggles wildly
Schoenbert, Arnold: Klavierstücke, Op. 23
(2:10) Sehr langsam. Slow, cold, listenable atonality
(1:25) Sehr rasch. Rapid register exploration, playful
(2:58) Langsam. Water drops off soggy leaves, rain returns
(1:58) Schwungvoll. Maßige. Statements in a language foreign
(2:31) Waltzer. Skittish atonality continues, waltzing irregularly
Stravinsky, Igor: Sonata (1924)
(2:57) (crochet = 112). Neoclassical, driving figures, clashing mildly
(4:40) Adagietto. Haydnesque, runs and trills at a walking pace
(2:22) (crochet = 112). Rapid, playful two-part invention