Beethoven - Diabelli Variations [Frith]
Another new Diabelli Variations, this one is by Benjamin Frith, and it's highly rated in some quartets, it's available as a cheap reissue as part of the Quicksilver series on ASV, but these original discs are so much better, it's hard to form a definite opinion on only one listen, it takes a while to really get into an album, plus i don't have any other links to Frith, i don't know him at all, but it was good to get a different take on this famous work.
Benjamin Frith is English, and he was born in 1957, he made this recording in 1991, like i said about the Quicksilver reissue above, this is the original with a picture of Frith on the front [which looks strikingly similar to a Brahms disc by Jorge Federico Osorio], it's a great pic, Frith leaning into his piano, very nicely balanced.
On this listen it was variations 7, 24-25 & 29 i loved the most, here's a synopsis of each,
Variation 7 - a nice complex Variation, using both the high treble, and the low bass, it has a certain ebb and flow to it, i love that ringing in the treble, there's a tenseness / franticness that makes the piece jumble up somewhat.
Variation 24 - entitled Fughetta, it's a gentle variation, where the earlier playful world of tossing around Diabelli's silly Waltz is left behind, for something more serious, there's a gravitas here, it's not a showpiece Fugue like you would get from Bach, those opening notes tolling [0:00-0:05], just so lovely, and the delicateness of the notes that follow, most of the variations are around the one minute mark, but this lasts not far off three, very substantial.
Variation 25 - the Variation right after is a schizophrenic affair, the right hand stutters and staccatos a sort of offbeat, while the left hand blabbers away all legato, both seemingly trying to put each other off!, a lovely jumbled Variation.
Variation 29 - this variation gets all serious, as Beethoven gets further and further away from the original theme, it almost sounds like a funeral march at first, quite a dirge, but it has a majestic air to it, there's a sadness in there too.
The YouTube links on each Variation are from Brendel, and it's helpful that each one can be cued.
Variation 7 - a nice complex Variation, using both the high treble, and the low bass, it has a certain ebb and flow to it, i love that ringing in the treble, there's a tenseness / franticness that makes the piece jumble up somewhat.
Variation 24 - entitled Fughetta, it's a gentle variation, where the earlier playful world of tossing around Diabelli's silly Waltz is left behind, for something more serious, there's a gravitas here, it's not a showpiece Fugue like you would get from Bach, those opening notes tolling [0:00-0:05], just so lovely, and the delicateness of the notes that follow, most of the variations are around the one minute mark, but this lasts not far off three, very substantial.
Variation 25 - the Variation right after is a schizophrenic affair, the right hand stutters and staccatos a sort of offbeat, while the left hand blabbers away all legato, both seemingly trying to put each other off!, a lovely jumbled Variation.
Variation 29 - this variation gets all serious, as Beethoven gets further and further away from the original theme, it almost sounds like a funeral march at first, quite a dirge, but it has a majestic air to it, there's a sadness in there too.
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