Vol.5 of Raff piano music from Grand Piano

[Mark Thomas]

Here's an sneak preview of the next volume in Tra Nguyen's survey of Raff's piano music for the Grand Piano label:

GP654 (73 minutes) is due out in March and will feature just two major works: the 1866 set of twelve Blätter und Blüten (Leaves and Blossoms) Op.135a, and the Piano Sonata Op.14 of 1881. Blätter und Blüten sees Raff at his most delicately poetic, with the dozen pieces all named after flowers and plants, drawing on the then-popular "Language of Flowers" concept, in which each plant is emblematic of a human emotion or trait. The late Piano Sonata (a complete recomposition of the earlier 1844 Sonate et Fugue, confusingly also given Op.14) is a magnificent piece, but far from typical of Raff in its often sombre nobility. Unlike Blätter und Blüten, it has been recorded twice before, by Valentina Seferinova and, more recently, by Adrian Ruiz. As you might expect from the evidence of her performances on the previous four CDs in this series, Tra's interpretation of it here is a real eye-opener, giving it both a grandeur and a tenderness which elevate it above the uncharacteristically passionless work which it can so easily appear to be.

The sixth and final volume of the series is due out later in 2015

[Alan Howe]

Cor! 'nuff said...

[Mark Thomas]

Here's  a YouTube short taster of vol.5, featuring Tra Nguyen talking in particular about the Piano Sonata.

[poem_of_ecstasy]

Horrible video editing, but it's great to hear her talking about the new Raff album!

[Mark Thomas]

A few more details of the recording due out next month: www.naxos.com/ecard/grandpiano/GP654/#.
Full booklet notes here.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Excellent booklet notes, Mark. Clear, correct and just what the ordinary listener needs.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks Gareth, much appreciated but, of course, the music's the thing.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Indeed it is, Mark. And very fine too.

[Mark Thomas]

Samples of each track available here now.

[alharris]

I'm surprised and pleased to report that this is available NOW as a download from arkivmusic.com:

www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=1694358

[Mark Thomas]

Now available everywhere, I understand.

[Alan Howe]

The performance of the Grande Sonate must be the best available, surely? It combines brilliance of execution with profundity of thought in a way I've never heard before. Wonderful. Buy it!

[Mark Thomas]

Well, obviously I'm biased, but I do think that Tra Nguyen has managed to get to the heart of this elusive work. Underneath the surface gloss, the Piano Sonata has a valedictory character, as befits what turned out to be Raff's penultimate work for the piano, although he obviously didn't know that when he composed it. Although Adrian Ruiz's recent barnstorming performance on Genesis is a white knuckle ride, it's clearly a wrong-headed interpretation. Valentina Seferinova's was the only available account for over a decade (originally on Cahoots, and now Cameo Classics), and it has worn well. It certainly gets much nearer than does Ruiz but, despite being almost 3½ minutes faster, now seems both somewhat pedestrian and lacking in brilliance when compared with Nguyen's magnificent account. Having already given us four CDs of Raff's solo piano music (not to mention the Suite for Piano & Orchestra and Die Tagezeiten for Sterling) no one has more empathy for Raff's writing for the instrument than she, and we're lucky that she also has the technique to match its prodigious technical demands.