Claudio Arrau (piano)
Live Volume 2
Contents and recording details listed after review
Danish Radio Orchestra/Miltiades Caridis
rec. 1967/72
Doremi DHR8235/6 [2 CDs: 148]

Doremi continues its live Arrau series with this collection of Chopin and Liszt performances recorded in Scandinavia. In September 1967 Arrau was joined by the Danish Radio Orchestra under Miltiades Caridis (1923-1998) in two concertos that were at the centre of his repertoire, Liszt’s first concerto and Chopin’s second. He recorded the Liszt three times, firstly in 1935 with Hans Rosbaud, in 1952 with Eugene Ormandy and the familiar recording with Colin Davis in 1979 but it is nice to have this gripping live version. As with Jorge Bolet there is a frisson to Arrau’s live recordings that is sometimes missing in his studio versions for all their quality and that is the case here though he was never a pianist to deliver empty pyrotechnics. The same goes for his Chopin, smooth and bold in passagework and with marvellous shaping in the lyrical sections and transitions. He does gather momentum somewhat in the faster sections and it is up to Caridis to bring it back into line in the tuttis which adds a little earthbound touch to the orchestra’s otherwise very responsive and vibrant contribution. The sound is perfectly acceptable for the age with a clear sense of the unnamed venue’s acoustic.

Doremi continue with a recital given five years later in Helsinki and once more devoted to Chopin and Liszt. He opens with a gloriously rich Fantasy that is marvellously balanced so that while he pushes ahead in the triplet arabesques and the double thirds into the big octave passages it always sounds focused with a clear destination. There is warmth in his Nocturne and he maintains a wonderful sense of line in the trills at the return of the main theme which have that velvety touch that is characteristic of so much of the playing here. Disc two begins and ends with the first and last of Chopin’s scherzi, both of which display a youthful fire and feature occasional thrilling surges through passagework that belies Arrau’s nearly seventy years. The centrepiece of the recital is Liszt’s Sonata in B minor and this is absolutely magisterial under Arrau’s fingers, gigantic climaxes judged to a tee and stunning reminders of his heritage as a grand pupil of Liszt who had conquered Liszt’s transcendental études and Brahms’ Paganini variations before he reached his teens. Of course it is not all about fingers and the drama after the quasi adagio is passionate, almost improvisatory and contrasts with searching poetry before the allegro energico fugal entry. He follows it with a B minor Ballade that has a dramatic impetus with a real visceral feel in the surges of the left hand scale passages and the same disregard for technical challenges and the limits of the instrument that could create ugliness of sound and structure in lesser hands. The Chopin F minor Ballade that follows it starts perfectly acceptably but really settles down and grows in stature as the more contrapuntal writing begins, Arrau relaxing into the drama of the writing. I love his pedalling into the chorale chords after the double arpeggios and stretto and the coda is as cataclysmic as any I’ve heard.

I have always been impressed with live recordings of Arrau and this is certainly no exception. The sound in the 1972 recording is vivid and clear though in quieter moments there is just a hint of a high tinkling bell, particularly at the opening of the Liszt Sonata, presumably a high radio frequency. Doremi have left in the radio announcements which I wouldn’t have missed but no matter. Documentation is minimal; a one page biography, a list of contents, a photo of Miltiades Caridis in action and an advert for the previous release in the series which does contrast with some very well presented historical issues from independent labels that have come my way recently but in the end it’s about the music and this grand playing is well worth checking out.

Rob Challinor

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Contents
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat major S.124
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor Op.21
Copenhagen, September, 1967
Fantaisie in F minor Op.49
Nocturne in B major Op.62 No.1
Scherzo No.1 in B minor Op.20
Franz Liszt
Sonata in B minor S.178
Ballade No.2 in B minor S.171
Frédéric Chopin
Ballade No.4 in F minor Op.52
Scherzo No.4 in E major Op.54
Helsinki, 6 September 1972