Search - Godowsky, Chopin, Stanchinsky :: Russian Piano School vol.19: Edvard Syomin: Godowsky/Chopin/Stanchinsky/Medtner/Eiges/Albéniz/Busoni

A must

Michael Whincop | GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, QLD AUSTRALIA | 10/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Who the hell is this guy? That is one's first reaction; even amongst the learned cognoscenti of internet newsgroups, I never heard of Edvard Syomin. Moreover, looking at the cover, where he looks eerily like Ringo Starr, one is inclined to wonder whether BMG's scouts had drunk too much Stolichnaya when putting their second set of the Russian Piano School together.Then you play the disk.I don't think Syomin is another Richter technically. The playing is smudgy here and there. But his phrasing, his voicing, his colour, and his sense of involvement are revelatory even by the exulted standards of the best Russian pianists. The disk opens with Godowsky's Rameau reworkings, which have a warmth and grace that are matchless. The Chopin is immaculately sung. The works by Eiges and Stanchinsky, rarely recorded, are interesting, and one would not hope for a more sympathetic, atmospheric performance of either. The Medtner and the Albeniz are rich in colour and local tang. The big works to close, the Busoni Carmen Fantasy and the Godowsky Kunsterleben, are wholly superb. They are technically very impressive, but one is far more enthralled by the sense of drama and conviction in works what will, all too easily, sound vapid virtuoso fodder. Compare Hamelin's otherwise excellent Carmen Fantasy with Syomin's, and you register what Syomin has to offer as a pianist.The sound is pretty variable, and some of it is mono. But you really have to buy this work if you are serious about the piano."