Stefan Askenase (piano)
Concert Tours 1958-1972
rec. 1958-1972
Meloclassic MC1085 [2 CDs: 156]

Though quite different in style to many of the more extrovert pianists that I customarily listen to I have come to appreciate the elegant playing of Polish pianist Stefan Askenase through two previous releases of his live recordings issued by Meloclassic (MC1065 review ~ MC1077 review). Meloclassic have also released two previous issues that I have not heard. This time we have the opportunity to hear a complete recital given in Lugano on 6^th February, 1964 with a new composer to Askenase’s live discography, Prokofiev alongside his beloved Chopin and Mozart. Two concertos complete the set.

I think the Lugano recital is my favourite so far. He opens with Mozart, the B flat major sonata, where one is immediately aware of his unfussy playing and supple phrasing. The andante cantabile shows his sense of line where he really sings the line and he brings out the energy in the finale including a rather romantically inclined reading of the cadenza. The Ah, vous dirai-je maman variations are a joy, full of youthful vigour and oozing with vibrant rhythms. His Beethoven is warm hearted and romantically inclined at times in the way he shapes the left hand passagework. Strong when necessary he still takes time to find hushed pianissimos while still maintaining a beautiful singing line. He tackles the scherzo with confidence and vigour and admirably sustains the drama of the adagio ma non troppo opening of the final movement. The fugues are nicely shaped without any unnecessary marking of the fugal entries. After that he plays a selection of Prokofiev’s visions fugitives; nos. 1 to 6, 8-10, 14, 15 and 18. Askenase had championed modern composers in his earlier career, indeed Karol Rathaus got his publishing contract with Universal Edition mostly on the strength of Askenase’s performance of his second sonata but after the second world war he concentrated more on Chopin and the classics of Mozart and Beethoven and played little of his earlier repertoire other than some Debussy préludes and Alban Berg’s Piano sonata so it is good to hear a little of this side of his playing. His phrasing and pedalling are exemplary as is his layering of dynamics, evident from the fluid flow of the second and the melodic impetus of the third. He eschews percussive playing, ever the romantic, but is still crisp and bold and the evenness of his runs in the fourth or the humorous clarity of the fifth and ninth show there is no diminution of his technique. A highlight is the eighth, wonderfully heart felt though the sinuous eighteenth is not far behind. He ended the recital with a selection of Chopin starting with an impromptu that is not the race to the finish it is often performed as but is delightfully jaunty. The F sharp minor nocturne is as natural as breathing with rich tone and glorious lines and shows just how Askenase came by his reputation as a Chopin player of distinction. His two mazurkas are all refined elegance and, in op.41 no.2, a vivid sense of melancholy. Four of the études are dispatched nicely and if they don’t have that rigour that some virtuosi bring to them Askenase is certainly no slouch and very capable in demands of op.25 no.6 and op.10 no.4. Encores are Liszt’s valse oubliée and Mendelssohn’s E minor Scherzo, both impish and dashing.

I enjoyed Askenase’s poised account of the G major concerto on MC1065 so it is delight to have this even more polished performance of Mozart’s final piano concerto. Recorded in 1958 it pre-dates the other live concerto recordings on these discs by nearly a decade and that makes a difference in his choice of tempo, spirited but unhurried and his clean lines and bounce are a pleasure. There are the a couple of cadenza like arabesques, very stylishly added before entries in the first movement and he actually pushes the tempo along in the fuller sections of the development section. His cadenzas appear to be Mozart’s – at least it starts off as Mozart’s though without the music in front of me I would question if it is all Mozart’s creation; some sounds slightly more modern. The orchestral contribution is good though the wind come across more clearly than the strings. The Chopin F minor concerto dates from 1972 and is more restrained tempo-wise though this autumnal performance still contains beautiful playing. It is certainly not as sprightly as the Mozart but his technique is still fluent as any of the figuration attests and his lyrical playing is as beautiful as ever but I did find that he lingers a lot more, effecting quite the contrast between the poetic and virtuosic passages. Indeed it struck me that the piano’s opening bars in the larghetto do not seem that much slower than the first theme of the opening movement. The support of Győrgy Lehel and the Basel players is unerring.

I would say that Meloclassic have gathered together some of the best of Askenase on these two discs; their releases have won me over to this lovely player and long-time admirers should hurry to snap up these treasures.

Rob Challinor

Contents
rec. 6 February, 1964 Lugano-Besso, Studio Auditorio, RSI (Live recording)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata in B Flat Major K.333/315c
12 Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je maman K.265-300e
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No.31 in A Flat Major Op.110
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Visions Fugitives Op.22 excerpts
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Impromptu No.1 in A flat Major Op.29
Nocturne in F Sharp Minor Op.48 No.2
Mazurka in B Major Op.41 No.2
Mazurka in C Sharp Minor Op.41 No.4
Étude in A Minor Op.25 No.4
Étude in F Minor Op.25 No.2
Étude in G Sharp Minor Op.25 No.6
Étude in C Sharp Minor OP.10 No.4
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Valse oubliée No.1 in F Sharp Major S.215
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Scherzo in E Minor Op.16 No.2

rec. 8 December, 1958 Kongresshalle, Rundfunk der DDR, Leipzig (Radio studio recording)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No.27 in B Flat Major K.595
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig/Stanisław Wisłocki

rec. 14 April, 1972 Landgasthof, SRF, Riehen (radio studio recording)
Frédéric Chopin
Piano Concerto No.2 in F Minor Op.21
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Basel/Győrgy Lehel