Puzzle
Sophie Pacini (piano)
rec. 2021, DLF Kammermusiksaal, Köln, Germany
Fuga Libera FUG811 [53]
The puzzle that is life; my (very) simplified view of Sophie Pacini’s personal notes. How life has shaped and influenced events and emotions and by extension the question of to what extent that can affect performance without becoming self-indulgent or mannered.
If there were any concerns on that score I don’t feel them. Certainly there are very personal interpretations here, the G minor Prelude from Skriabin’s op.11 for one, but Pacini still communicates well. The programme is shaped nicely, starting off with the G minor Ballade as an introduction and staying in virtuoso territory before more lyrical works that prominently feature the left hand, Chopin’s C sharp minor etude and Scriabin’s E minor prelude, create something a slow movement. The drama of Chopin’s octave etude is an intermission before some of Chopin’s more restrained dances, divided by another quiet interlude and the recital closes in commanding style with the first of Chopin’s etudes.
Pacini’s strengths are immediately clear in the opening Ballade; technically strong and with a beautiful tone throughout especially in lower dynamics – just listen to the pianissimo notes in the opening moderato theme. Some might find her broad ritardandi a trifle pronounced and her rubato individual; the C sharp minor etude is a case in point with displacement between the hands and little surges within the bars echoing some of the pianism of the early 20th century Chopinists. I don’t find it a problem and the sound is undoubtedly beautiful. Her faster etudes are technically excellent and well paced with rich tone throughout, particularly clear in the final C minor etude. The watzes all have a buoyant quality and through there is some broad rubato in her F minor valse from op.70 it does not interfere with the dance and its G flat major companion is played with elegant agility. I love the playfulness in the rhythm of the early E flat major waltz KK.IVa No.14 and the supple lines of the two less familiar waltzes from a decade later.
To her Chopin selection she adds three Scriabin Preludes, all from his early Chopinesque days; the fifth in D major is given a beautiful performamce with a marvellous sense of growth up to the climax in bars 9 and 10 and a carefully graduated descent while there is a fragile poignancy to her G minor prelude. I find her rubato a little too much in the E minor prelude and am also bothered by a mis-reading in bars 2 and 10; after the clear A sharp in the third beat chord she reverts to an unmarked A natural for the final two chords of the bar. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and assume it is from an edition I am unfamiliar with but I can’t say that I like the harmony created.
There is an awful lot to enjoy in this recital and Sophie Pacini is clearly a pianist who holds this music close to her heart. If you are not fond of Chopin with a large sprinkling of rubato this is not for you but I found myself drawn to her intimate and often hypnotic music making.
Rob Challinor
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Contents
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Ballade No.1 in G minor Op.23 (1831-35)
Impromptu No.1 in A flat major Op.29 (1837)
Etude No.11 in A minor Op.25 (1834)
Etude No.12 in C minor Op.25 (1836)
Etude No.7 in C sharp minor Op.25 (1836)
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Prelude No.4 in E minor Op.11 (1896)
Prelude No.5 in D major Op.11 (1896)
Frédéric Chopin
Etude No.10 in B minor Op.25 (1832-34)
Valse in G flat major Op.70 No.1 (c.1835)
Valse in F minor Op.70 Mo.2 (1841)
Alexander Scriabin
Prelude No.22 in G minor Op.11 (1896)
Frédéric Chopin
Nocturne No.20 in C sharp minor Op.posth (1830)
Valse in E flat major KK.IVb No.10 (1840)
Valse in A minor KK.IVb No.11 (1843)
Valse in E flat major KK.IVa No.14 (1829-30)
Etude No.1 in C major Op.10 (1830)
