Dukas: Piano Sonata in E flat minor; Decaux: Clairs de lune
CML call number: CD/CLASSICAL/Dukas
Vivien Schweitzer wrote in the New York Times: "The technical difficulty of the sonata, composed from 1898 to 1900, has been cited as a reason for its recent neglect. Yet this seems implausible, given the formidable techniques of contemporary pianists able to master difficult repertory staples like Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' Sonata, to which Dukas's work has been compared. Dukas, not a talented pianist himself, defiantly used Beethoven's classical sonata form while compatriots like Debussy were shunning the genre for so-called Impressionistic music. It is a challenge to sustain the momentum and preserve the structure of this vast, wandering sonata, which subtly echoes Schubert, Saint-Saëns and Franck. Mr. [Marc-André] Hamelin, who has recorded many works off the beaten track, succeeds. He balances the initial seething turbulence with quiet introspection. A breathtakingly lovely second movement precedes technical fireworks and reflective, harmonically colorful phrases in the third, before Mr. Hamelin propels the majestic finale to a virtuosic conclusion. … Mr. Hamelin's evocative playing renders [Decaux's 'Clairs de lune'] worthwhile."
Vivien Schweitzer wrote in the New York Times: "The technical difficulty of the sonata, composed from 1898 to 1900, has been cited as a reason for its recent neglect. Yet this seems implausible, given the formidable techniques of contemporary pianists able to master difficult repertory staples like Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' Sonata, to which Dukas's work has been compared. Dukas, not a talented pianist himself, defiantly used Beethoven's classical sonata form while compatriots like Debussy were shunning the genre for so-called Impressionistic music. It is a challenge to sustain the momentum and preserve the structure of this vast, wandering sonata, which subtly echoes Schubert, Saint-Saëns and Franck. Mr. [Marc-André] Hamelin, who has recorded many works off the beaten track, succeeds. He balances the initial seething turbulence with quiet introspection. A breathtakingly lovely second movement precedes technical fireworks and reflective, harmonically colorful phrases in the third, before Mr. Hamelin propels the majestic finale to a virtuosic conclusion. … Mr. Hamelin's evocative playing renders [Decaux's 'Clairs de lune'] worthwhile."
posted by casemusic at 2:15 PM
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