Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Sonata in B flat minor Op. 35 (1839)
Berceuse in D flat Op. 57 (1843)
Ballade No. 1 in G minor Op. 23 (1831-5)
Two Nocturnes Op. 55 (1843)
Piano Sonata in B minor Op. 58 (1844)
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
Rec/ September 2024 at Lady Stringer Studio, Garsington opera, Buckinghamshire, UK
Decca 487 0958 [76]

Chopin’s two mature piano sonatas – an early one is seldom played – are strongly contrasted. The B flat minor is introverted and obsessive; the B minor proud and heroic. So one test for a new recording is how well the pianist brings out their contrasting characters. Here we have Benjamin Grosvenor, the fast rising or perhaps already risen, British star pianist.

He certainly has the technique for these formidable works: absolutely clear articulation, smooth execution of runs and passagework, dazzling ornamental work in the right hand, elegant phrasing and pedalling and close observance of the composer’s markings, notably in keeping the tone down or dropping it when required.

I shall say straightaway that his performance of the B flat minor sonata seemed absolutely magisterial to me. I couldn’t get it out of my head for several days. I liked very much the contrast between the nervous first theme and the more serene second theme in chords with the big climax nicely shaped and the repeated chords towards the end of the exposition phrased and not just banged out. He takes the repeat, though not, as Charles Rosen advocated, from the opening Grave but from the Doppio movimento, as is usually done. In the development the cross rhythms are well articulated and the final stretto is powerful.

The scherzo is in the ferocious vein of most of Chopin’s scherzos and you can feel the demonic driving force behind it. The Più lento trio is sensitively done. The third movement is a funeral march. Grosvenor has the bass figure tolling like bells – I found myself thinking of the bells in Parsifal. The middle section is like a Nocturne, played pianissimo and with great gentleness. The finale is amazing: it is a  moto perpetuo with the two hands moving in single note triplets an octave apart and it goes at a breakneck speed. It feels like waves rising and crashing while the fluency of the execution makes the process seamless.

After this we have a moment of repose with the Berceuse, played slightly faster than usual. This begins very quietly and simply, but the right hand then decorates the main theme in ever more elaborate ways – the page is quite black with the elaborate subdivisions. It then calms down to the original simple theme. Grosvenor does all this beautifully.

However, I did not enjoy the next work, the first Ballade, as much. This was for two unrelated reasons. One, which may seem quite unfair, is that for a recording – live concerts are a different matter – I like to have all four Ballades together. I would have rather had the F minor Fantaisie Op. 49 which, despite the name, is really a sonata-form first movement which never had other movements added to it. (Imagine if it had!) The other is that I was not comfortable with Grosvenor’s playing of the first main section. The little hesitations and other nuances seemed to me not so much expressive as mannered. However, things improve and on its second appearance it is much better. The big climaxes go well and the final Presto con fuoco is dazzling.

We then have the two Nocturnes Op. 55. Here particularly I noted Grosvenor’s occasional tendency to desynchronise the two hands. It is not obtrusive and is probably in good style, but the listener needs to be aware of it. The first of the two is nicely done, with the triplet interjections not too obtrusive and the decorative end spun off delicately. The second piece is more complex with the right hand frequently breaking into two parts and some complex cross rhythms, neatly negotiated.

And so to the B minor sonata. This did not blow me away as did its companion but it is undeniably well done. In the opening paragraph I noted clear observance of Chopin’s directions on tone, with a sudden piano and gradual crescendo and the complicated writing leading to the second subject is well phrased and articulated.  The extension of that second subject gives the left hand figuration almost identical to that which opens Schumann’s C major Fantasy, composed a few years earlier, and which Chopin must have known. The repeat is not taken and the development is powerful and dramatic leading to a forceful partial recapitulation and ending.

The scherzo is quite unlike that of the B flat minor sonata, being fast, light and elegant, with a sonorous middle section in chords. The slow movement, after a formidable opening, turns out to be a kind of Nocturne, though more elaborate than those pieces formally given that title.

With the finale the heroic strain returns though tempered by runs and decorative passages which eventually lead, after many episodes, to a forceful ending.

The sound quality is excellent. The booklet has an interesting essay about the programme, in three languages. I could have spared some of the many photographs of Grosvenor to have had instead a biography of him. The disc is in a small version of what we used to call gateleg sleeves, with the booklet in one pocket and the disc in the other.  There is a spine with the necessary details. I expect this will now be Decca’s style, replacing jewel cases.

Many great pianists have recorded this repertoire and everyone will have their favourites: mine include Rubinstein and Argerich. Apart from some aspects of that first Ballade – and you may disagree with me about that – this is a rewarding recital.

Stephen Barber

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