Octo_Russ

Brahms - Handel Variations [Arrau]

More Brahms!, this is from a rare three disc box set, i like Claudio Arrau, a wonderful interpreter, maybe a bit on the slow side, but someone who can find new colours and ways of seeing things, the Handel Variations along with Bach's Goldberg, are my very favourite Piano Variations, the Handel Variations are subjected to almost every conceivable idea you can squeeze out of the theme, it's a mesmerizing 29 minutes from Arrau.

Claudio Arrau was born in Chile in 1903, and died in 1991, he had long and distinguished career, highly regarded as a musical aristocrat, later in his career he began to slow his interpretations down slightly, there's a maturity about his interpretations, though sometimes you want a bit more fire.

The booklet / front cover show Arrau in thoughtful poses [photos by Christian Steiner], these discs come from a time when Arrau's discs were re-issued in these box sets, he had others for Schubert, Debussy, Beethoven and Chopin etc, i'm not really interested in the Piano Sonatas, and all the works that are really desirable in this box set could actually fit on one disc, but still it's a great set to own.

On this listen i really felt an affinity with the Theme, and variations 1, 6-7, 12, 14, 17-18, 22 & 25, and i would like to give a short synopsis of why each of these variations caught my attention,

Theme [0:00-1:19], a slow and sure noble theme, a nice trill on the end of almost everything, straight away you can just feel the endless variety that can be gleaned from such a theme.

Variation 1 [1:19-2:18], the first variation always sets the scene, and in closest proximity to the theme, you can see the change and juxtaposition more clearer, especially a faster variation after a slow theme, the high treble 'trills as frills' get more frequent as the variation continues.

Variation 6 [6:03-7:14], a very stoic variation, nice right hand treble chiming, and the left hand has a mini fugue going in the bass, really quite mesmerizing.
Variation 7 [7:14-7:51], so in contrast the seventh is bouncy, staccato rhythms that you can dance to, in contrast again the eighth is taken too fast and breaks up the vibe of the seventh.

Variation 12 [11:27-12:23], after a bass 'drum roll', the wheezy high voice of the twelfth is a nice contrast.
Variation 14 [14:11-14:57], after the slow and sombre thirteenth, it's good to hear the 'laugh your head off' fourteenth, full of gaiety and mischievous trills.

Variation 17 [16:17-16:52], lovely staccato plink plink in the treble right, with the very simple accompaniment two note plonk plonk in the bass right hand!, really sounds like this variation needs three hands with the middle rhythm added.
Variation 18 [16:52-17:46], by comparison the eighteenth sounds very orthodox, nice regular legato, nice use of the high treble to accentuate things.

Variation 22 [20:48-21:50], this sounds almost like a musical box in a way, nice high treble, sometimes the simplest variations can be the most profound.
Variation 25 [22:54-23:34], the final variation before the long fugue, and it's a barnstormer, there's the great feel that all the stops are pulled out for this one, in one last show of power.

And the winner is... i think the seventeenth, i guess a lot of people write off the Handel Variations, when people talk about solo piano variations, then it's always the Goldberg and the Diabelli that get mentioned, but the Handel is really just as good, and it clears the cobwebs away from what can be four square muddiness from Brahms, and Claudio Arrau's interpretation is enlightening and sparkling.

Here's Roman Rabinovich playing the middle variations 11 to 20 on YouTube, variation 17 is at 5:30.