Russian Variations
John Field (1782 – 1837)
Variations on a Russian folk song (pub. 1818)
Alexander Glazunov (1865 – 1936)
Theme and Variations, Op 72 (1900)
Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)
Six morceau composes sur un seul thème, Op 21 (1873)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 – 1943)
Variations on a theme of Chopin, Op 22 (1902/03)
Piers Lane (piano)
rec. 2023, Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Hyperion CDA68428 [81]
A typically impressive Hyperion release; an interesting and well-planned programme of attractive music, played with brilliance and insight by Piers Lane and recorded with understated sophistication.
All four composers are well-known, although neither Glazunov nor Tchaikovsky would be remembered primarily for their solo piano works. The disc title of “Russian Variations” is possibly a little misleading, since clearly John Field was not Russian – even though the theme he used was. Conversely, while the other three composers were Russian, Glazunov’s theme is purportedly of Finnish origin and Rachmaninov’s explicitly by Chopin.
This very generous recital – running three seconds shy of 81 minutes – opens with John Field’s charming Variations on a Russian folk song. Marina Frolova-Walker’s insightful liner note succinctly describes Field’s music as sounding like the “missing link” between the piano music of Mozart and Chopin. She also points towards Field’s absorption of the influence of the operatic music of Rossini and Donizetti, where coloratura-style ornamented passage work is dispatched with nonchalant ease. Clearly this is music more of the salon than the concert hall and Lane is excellent at finding exactly the right scale to his playing. So the virtuosity is relaxed and unforced and likewise the phrasing has a natural directness that suits the scale of the work – just 6:00 for the complete work. A notable and appealing feature of the work is the way in which the variations unfurl quite seamlessly. This is not a piece where variations are written in strong contrast to each-other, instead the easily-identifiable theme (based on the Russian folk-tune ‘In the garden’) ‘evolves’ with little immediate differentiation. Given the scale and wider emotional range of the three remaining works, this makes an ideal and rather elegant opener to the disc.
I have rather missed out on the solo piano music of Alexander Glazunov – I know the two piano sonatas he wrote, but that is about it. A glance at the catalogue shows that there have been at least three complete surveys of this music, plus numerous ‘sampler’ discs. Hyperion led the way nearly thirty years ago with a very well-received four disc collection from Stephen Coombs – none of which I have heard.
The Theme and Variations, Op 72 played here by Lane appeared on Volume 2 of the Coombs survey which he played a full two minutes quicker – 17:57 to Lane’s 20:10. This work represents – along with the two sonatas – Glazunov’s most substantial music written for solo piano and the date of its composition – 1900 – shows the composer at the height of his powers. By opus, it sits surrounded by The Seasons, Op 67, Chant de Ménestrel, Op 71, the two piano sonatas Opp 74 & 75 and Symphony No 7, Op 77. But these opus numbers/dates also reveal the composer at the high water mark of his musical influence, with the remaining half of his life representing a retreat into musical conservatism. However, at the point this work was written, Glazunov’s technical skill and fluency is constantly evident.
Written as a theme and fifteen variations (each individually tracked on this CD), Glazunov writes the work in subgroups of variations of similar tempo/mood, which are then more strongly contrasted with the next group. Most of the variations are quite brief – eight of the fifteen lasting less than one minute, with only the penultimate Variation 14 Andante tranquillo – a musical highlight of the set – breaking the three-minute barrier. As with the Field, Lane’s great skill is his ability to mould together the attractive diversity of the work while being completely unfazed by any technical challenges. According to the liner notes, the original title of Variations on a Finnish folk song was dropped for publication due to separatist friction between Finland, then part of the Russian Empire, and the Tsar. Glazunov was to revisit the same theme for his 1909 Finnish Fantasy, although the title remained intact for the later work.
A little curiosity is that the melody is a seven bar phrase – which Glazunov retains for the opening theme, although all the following variations revert to a more standard eight bar lengths. Glazunov’s compositional fluency ensures that his transformation of the theme is both effective and attractive. The work has none of the grander, overtly virtuosic gestures that occur in the Rachmaninov work on this disc, but then the latter was written as a vehicle for virtuoso display by its composer/performer. That said, several variations – Nos 10 & 13 sound reminiscent of some of the Chopin Études and require a similar level of brilliance from the performer. The closing Variation 15 Allegro Moderato is reminiscent of the celebratory closing movements of Glazunov’s symphonies and ballets.
Despite his stature as one of the most enduringly popular Classical Music composers, Tchaikovsky’s solo piano output – which is quite substantial in quantity – remains stubbornly little known. Individual months in the charming The Seasons turn up, but even his largest-scale works such as the Piano Sonata in G major, Op 37, which runs to near 35 minutes across its four movements, somehow fails to make the enduring impact his orchestral, ballet and operatic works do. I suspect the reason for this is the slightly uncomfortable balance Tchaikovsky seeks to find between the salon and the concert hall, with works such as the Six morceau composes sur un seul thème, Op 21 a prime example. This is thrown into sharp relief when heard alongside Rachmaninov’s towering and masterly work. Clearly the younger composer’s work was written explicitly for his own virtuosic concertising and the sense of thematic evolution and transformation is simply breathtaking.
For Tchaikovsky, even the use of a ‘fashionable’ French title suggests an ulterior motive. Of course, Lane plays these superbly. These are six standalone works, but all use the same melodic material as a theme and by playing them as a set here they are in effect a set of variations. However, they do sound like individual pieces in the way that the Glazunov and Rachmaninov sets do not. There is no sense of thematic evolution, simply different treatments.
Usually, Tchaikovsky can be counted on for the sheer fertility of his melodic invention. His theme here is – by his own high standards – just a fraction plain and the work starts slowly with a fairly routine Prélude followed by an equally academic fugue à 4 voix. Most impressive is No 4 in A-flat minor – Marche funèbre. Around the theme Tchaikovsky weaves the same Dies Irae chant that will haunt so many of Rachmaninov’s scores, including his Chopin Variations. This is the longest of the six pieces at 6:46, but also the one with the clearest emotional charge, too. That said, Tchaikovsky is able to write some intricate and attractive passage work in the third movement Impromptu and the closing Scherzo that Lane dispatches with exactly the right kind of relaxed virtuosity. But again that virtuosity in the writing feels just a little too much about impressing the salon audience rather than having any real compositional imperative.
Rachmaninov was one of that rare breed of musicians who were both brilliant composers and genuine virtuosos. His Variations on a theme of Chopin, Op. 22 dates from 1902/3 – just a couple of years after the Glazunov set heard earlier on the disc. Yet the intellectual scale, the ambition, the musical range of the younger composer’s work dwarfs Glazunov’s fine but in some ways predictable set. And perhaps therein lies the difference between the two composers – both were gifted orchestrators, memorable tunesmiths and prodigious all-round musicians. Yet ultimately Glazunov was happy to work within pre-defined musical boundaries while Rachmaninov, arch-Romantic though he undoubtedly was, tested the boundaries within his chosen style and genre.
Of course, the criticism can be levelled at Rachmaninov that once he found this unique voice, much of his music reworked the same material and style. He would revisit this in the 1931 Corelli Variations and in the famed Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op 43 from 1934. All fingerprints of those masterpieces are already present in this Op 22. The theme is stated with stark and simple grandeur, but the degree of thematic transformation over the course of 22 variations and 28 minutes is simply remarkable. If the Tchaikovsky is a work that can be listened to as individual movements, it is the collective, cumulative genius of these variations that never fails to impress. Especially in a performance as convincing and compelling as this one.
Lane has full measure of the work technically and aesthetically. But particularly impressive is the sense of a through line connecting these often brief variations into a single cogent musical arch. Part of the challenge for pianists – aside from the sheer technical demands – is the way the variations fluctuate so greatly in terms of musical mood and style and it is here that Lane convinces so well. Of course, the catalogue is full of great pianists and great performances – not least Hyperion’s own with Howard Shelley’s complete survey recorded, although I was slightly startled to realise that Shelley recorded his version as far back as 1978.
The entire disc is thoroughly enjoyable – especially listened to at a single sitting – but impossible not to reach the end of the recital and not think that there are three fine pieces on this disc and one masterpiece. But for me, the pleasure of this type of disc is exactly that sense of composers finding different answers to essentially the same challenge. In Piers Lane’s insightful and assured company, this proves to be an illuminating journey.
Nick Barnard
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