Search - Arensky, Goldstone :: Piano Music

Lyrical Warmth of Arensky's music imaginatively played.

David A. Hollingsworth | Washington, DC USA | 02/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In reviewing Anthony Goldstone's renditions of Lyapunov's piano music, I confessed being hypnotized by Goldstone's dreamingly- like interpretation of especially the composer's Sonata in F minor. His survey of Arensky's piano works is every bit as imaginative and poetic as his survey of the Lyapunov. Goldstone belongs to a class of pianists who emphasize the nobility, the innocence, the poetry, the beauty of a piece over sheer drama and fiery temperament. Of course, any interpretation depends on the piece, especially since music is a living thing. But, if there's a sense of indulgence in Goldstone's playing, the indulgence have eloquence and subtlety that in some ways enhance Arensky's music, not damaging it. Arensky's piano music have that compelling sense of eloquence that even Anton Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky would have love to claim as their own. The Twelve Preludes op. 63 is especially a gorgeous work; full of poetic and sumptuous ideas (esp. no. 6 in G major) and a sense of forward direction and imagination. The Quatre Etudes (in the Hyperion CD with Coombs) is somewhat dramatic and there's something grandiose in the 24 Characteristic Pieces (also in the Hyperion). But, his music is not as rant as in many of Tchaikovsky's piano pieces. Neither does his music possess heavy doses of a Russian accent in veins similar to Balakirev or Lyapunov. But like Lyapunov, Arensky have that sense of lyrical warmth and sometimes comtemplation that does not necessarily rob the music of its overall appeal. On occassion, the spirits of Chopin, Schumann, and Mendelssohn are found in his works, as Goldstone aptly points out (listen to, for example, the Three Morceaux). However, Arensky's music stands up well on its own and with the idiom cultivatingly Russian. His Twelve Etudes op. 74 is a good case in point: a foretaste to the piano works Medtner and Rachmaninov is rather startling. Arensky's piano music is not as daring and virtuosic as that of Liszt, though it have many facets to offer. Therefore, it's quite amazing yet unfortunate that the Russian school of orchestral pianism chose to overlook them. However, the Hyperion and Olympia CDs offer us emormous compensations for that void and I do hope that Goldstone record Arensky's entire 24 Characteristic Pieces op. 36 and the Pres de la mer (Six Esquisses) op. 52 anytime soon. In the meantime, this CD will heighten Arensky's status as a serious, influential composer considerably."