The small independent
Arco Diva label uses, for this recording,
the ‘CLARA Audiophile Recording Technique’
– "a ‘one point’ recording technique
using two microphones arranged in a
separation unit. The recorded material
is placed directly onto the sound carrier
without any mixing and rebalancing".
I include this description because the
acoustic sounds natural, warm and very
clear.
Banu Sözüar
was born in Istanbul, studied in Vienna
and attended international master courses
conducted by Paul Badura-Skoda, Alfred
Brendel and Jörg Demus. She made
her debut at the age of 15 and has since
performed all over the world and made
a number of recordings, TV and radio
broadcasts.
The theme on which
Rachmaninov’s based his Corelli Variations
was introduced to him by Fritz Kreisler
with whom he had recorded sonatas by
Grieg, Beethoven and Schubert in 1928.
Interestingly, the theme is not by Corelli,
rather an anonymous tune known as ‘La
Folia’ used by Corelli in a work of
his own. The Corelli Variations
are a late work (1931) and not unlike
the variations of the famous Paganini
Rhapsody for piano and orchestra
composed three years or so later.
For the Rachmaninov
Corelli Variations I compared
Sözüar’s reading with that
of Howard Shelley on Hyperion CDA66009
(recorded in 1978). Whereas Sözüar’s
performance spans 20:05 minutes Howard
Shelley spends just 18:30. From the
outset Shelley’s reading is more commanding,
and has more light and shade, more poetry.
Looking at, for instance, those two
variations at the heart of the work,
Sözüar’s Intermezzo, Variation
XIV is measured melancholy; it may lack
the power and emotional depth of Shelley’s
reading but her treatment of the following
L’istesso tempo variation is beautifully
limpid; but then so too is Shelley’s
- with added nuances.
Shostakovich was thirty
years old at the time of composition
of his 24 Preludes and established as
the number one composer in the Soviet
Union. Only a few years later he would
fall into political disfavour to live
in constant fear of persecution. The
24 Preludes are rarely performed complete
– perhaps because of their playful,
eclectic nature; there are direct quotes
from the music of Chopin, Mahler, Prokofiev,
Rachmaninov and Scriabin. This is a
pity because heard one after the other
a definite pattern emerges showing that
this is a unified work of art. The Preludes’
styles vary widely from the balletic
and serenely beautiful to the bizarre
and menacing. But Shostakovich’s sense
of sardonic humour is often evident
too.
Sözüar’s
reading of the Preludes brings out all
their varied kaleidoscopic characteristics.
You can sense that she enjoys their
innate skittishness, her interpretations
moving seamlessly through tenderness,
playfulness and bitter angst.
A characterful reading
of the Shostakovich Preludes and a lightly
shaded interpretation of the Rachmaninov
Variations make up a pleasant CD and
an unusual coupling for the adventurous.
Ian Lace
Full
Arcodiva Catalogue
for
details
Banu Sözüar (piano) 
