PORTRAITS IV • Mauricio Vallina (pn); Saleem Abboud Ashkar (pn); Ran Jia (pn); Mona Asuka Ott (pn); Hisako Kawamura (pn); Alexei Lubimov (pn); Sergej Kasprov (pn); Alexej Zouev (pn) • CAVI 8553129 (6 CDs: 455:11)

Music by bach, schumann, liszt, vallina, rimsky-korsakov, schubert, schoenberg, brahms, mozart, beethoven, scarlatti, debussy, franck, scarlatti

Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr: Portraits 4 (Box)
Audio CD; Box set
Cavi-Music
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With the notable exception of Alexei Lubimov, the pianists featured on these six discs from the 2008 Ruhr Piano Festival in Germany are as yet little known. Although many have won major competitions, their programs here consist mostly of familiar works. For these reasons, I must agree with my colleague Jerry Dubins, who in 32:4 wrote about an even larger set of discs from a previous Ruhr Piano Festival: “Unless one has an abiding passion (and endurance) for musical marathons that have the potential to launch some young, fresh talent on a brilliant career, or one happened to attend such an event and desires a keepsake of it, I see a very limited market for this sort of thing.” The Ruhr, located north of Düsseldorf, is an industrial area known for its excellent beer, its manufacture of munitions, and now this privately financed piano festival, in operation since 1997. The venues for the most recent festival included concert halls in Dortmund, Essen, Bottrop, and Moers. Highlights of the discs are mentioned below.

CD 1: Mauricio Vallina was born in 1970 in Cuba and studied with Alicia de Larrocha and Dmitri Bashkirov, among others. His program consists of Bach’s Organ Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor (transcribed by Liszt); Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes and Abegg Variations ; Liszt’s Valse oubliée No. 1 and Mephisto Waltz No. 1 . This disc gets the set off to a poor start. Unlike his famous mentors, Vallina overinterprets everything. Excessive rubato, exaggerated dynamics, and a fondness for impressionistic pedal effects characterize his mannered performances, which gave me little pleasure. Only Bach’s Fugue emerged relatively unscathed.

CD 2: Saleem Abboud Ashkar, born in Israel, studied at the Royal Academy in London and with Arie Vardi in Hannover. His recital includes Bach’s English Suite No. 2; Schubert’s Sonata in A Minor (D 537); Schoenberg’s Drei Klavierstücke , op. 11; and Brahms’s Fantasien , op. 116. Ashkar is a thoughtful and poetic player. His tempos in the Bach are perfect, though I question why he plays the ornamented version of the Sarabande after the Sarabande itself, since he otherwise omits all repeats in this suite. Schubert’s rather quirky Sonata is nicely scaled, with a good variety of tone and touch. He brings the same degree of sensitivity to the Schoenberg, playing it with obvious affection; and the Brahms pieces are spontaneous, nuanced, and full of the requisite bravura when called for.

CD 3: Ran Jia, born in China in 1988, studied with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute. Her all-Schubert program consists of the Impromptu in E♭ (D 899), the Sonata No. 19 in C Minor (D 958), and the Sonata No. 20 in A (D 959). Jia’s Schubert is warm and unforced, even in the propulsive and at times Beethovenian Sonata in C Minor. Subtle tempo modifications and sensitivity to textures add to the success of the outer movements. The finale is one of the most exciting accounts I know, perfectly paced; and her lyricism and balances in the Adagio are ideal. The Sonata in A features a wide variety of dynamics under fine control, the momentum always forward but never rushed. In the outer movements, she holds the listener’s attention continuously, never letting the music sound sectional or discursive, and in the Andantino she is powerfully hypnotic. Jia is young artist to watch, a mature and gifted musician.

CD 4: Mona Asuka Ott was born in Munich in 1991 and has studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. Her recital includes Mozart’s Rondo in D, K 485; Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 in C Minor; Liszt’s Venezia e Napoli ; Schubert’s Drei Klavierstücke , D 946; and Liszt’s Rhapsodie espagnole . Ott is the youngest of the six players, and she shows much promise. Her Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert are all first-rate, even when compared with more established artists in this familiar repertoire. She plays with subtle contrasts of touch, good pacing, and fine balances throughout. The Liszt pieces are full of lovely coloristic moments, and she plays the toughest passages of the Tarantella and the Rhapsodie espagnole with brilliance and natural flair.

CD 5: Hisako Kawamura, born in Japan in 1981, studied with Vladimir Krainev and won first prize at the 2007 Clara Haskil Competition. She plays Schumann’s Humoreske , op. 20; five Scarlatti sonatas; Debussy’s suite Pour le piano ; and Franck’s Prélude, Choral et Fugue . Kawamura captures the dreamy and the impulsive sides of Schumann to perfection, playing one of the finest accounts of the Humoreske I know—including the stellar ones by Sviatoslav Richter and Cynthia Raim. For 30 minutes she takes us into another world with playing that is utterly captivating. I would almost recommend buying the six discs just to get this Schumann performance. In the other works she reveals further facets of her artistry, with sparkling Scarlatti and colorful, committed playing in the Debussy and Franck. Kawamura seems to have everything it takes for a major career.

CD 6: Sergei Kasprov, born in 1979, studied at the Moscow Conservatory and the Schola Cantorum in Paris. He shares the disc with Alexej Zouev, born in 1982, and their venerable teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, Alexei Lubimov. Kasprov plays five Scarlatti sonatas; and, with Lubimov, Mozart’s Larghetto und Allegro in E♭ (completed by Robert Levin) and three of Schumann’s Canons, op. 56. Zouev plays Schumann’s Sonata in G Minor and, with Lubimov, Debussy’s “Nuage” and “Fêtes.” Kasprov’s Scarlatti is clear, witty, and spontaneous sounding, with an admirable variety of touches. Zouev plays the outer movements of the Schumann Sonata with wonderful fire and sweep, and a more meltingly beautiful performance of the Andantino would be hard to imagine. The Mozart rarity is played with impeccable ensemble, and in Ravel’s masterful transcription of the two Debussy pieces we are allowed to forget the orchestral original and to revel in glorious piano sound.

There is much fine playing on these discs. The sound, recorded throughout by Christoph Martin Frommen, is natural and clear without sounding over-close. The booklet includes full documentation on the artists and their programs. Charles Timbrell