Saturday, 6 June 2015

Brahms - 4 Klavierstucke Op119 [Ortiz]

I've had this disc for a couple of years, and this is only the second time i've played it today, i found it on Ebay and snapped it up, the Collins label finished some years ago, but discs like this i never knew existed, until i see them pop up on Ebay, i love these short works by Brahms, they are full of wonderful invention, almost an endless kaleidoscopic range of colours and emotions, always something new to hear and discover, and a new favourite piece to fall in love with every time!, these bite-sized pieces can 'seem' easy to chew on.

Cristina Ortiz is Brazilian, she's now 65, and she recorded this disc in 1990, the front cover portrait [by Katie Vandyck], is really excellent, it's a great shot, i like the hands / arms, the lettering is great as well, it's a shame that the Collins label is now defunct.

Collectively known as 'Klavierstucke', which consists of three Intermezzi, and then a Rhapsodie at the end, this work got better the longer i played it, and it was the last of these pieces that i found the most thrilling, it's in the 'heroic' key of E Flat Major, and here Brahms gives us a barnstorming 'finale', it starts with hammering chords, punctuated with short treble runs [0:00-1:00], in the middle section there's this delicate waltz like number in the treble [1:38-2:20], and later a bass version of the main tune [2:48-3:03], that's a really neat touch, a quirky variation, it doesn't last for long, and sort of transforms into something different, and this is the nature of the piece, it's a Rhapsody, and it goes all over the place, the opening comes back, like a carillon of bells in a bell tower, Brahms gives us a finale where the chords go from the bass to the treble [4:26-4:35], a very emphatic piece of music.

Here's Ryan Malone playing the Rhapsodie on YouTube.

No comments:

Post a Comment