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Site review by Geohominid April 6, 2008
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
The Italian company Ludomentis prides itself on the high quality of its recordings. It took several courageous decisions when launching an SACD series in 2005. First, it offered a rarely-recorded and even more rarely-performed work by Liszt, and secondly it issued its pure DSD hybrid disc in a two-pack with a DVD containing a 5.1 channel 96K/24bit PCM track, a 192kHz/24bit linear pcm stereo track and pcm Dolby digital 5.1 Surround and DTS 5.1 tracks. The idea behind this was to allow listeners to make comparisons between these formats at home - if they have a Universal player or a DVD player which will play the highest PCM sampling. (I will give more information about the technical side and comment further on these sonic tests in the Forum). Thirdly, they used a little-known pianist.
Although many listeners may be familiar with Liszt's Transcendental Studies of 1851, they may not be aware that the first publication of the 12 Studies dates back to 1826, when the 14/15-year old Liszt felt he had reached the limits of his powers over the piano. He compiled the first version of the studies and published them as "Studies in 12 Exercises". Some 10 years later, when in Paris and stimulated by the seemingly demonic wizardry of Paganini, the subtle poetry of Chopin and the extrovert Romanticism of Berlioz, he extensively revised the set. The new opus not only pushed the limits of pianistic techniques, but also of his poetic vision. Schumann declared that only 10 or 12 people in the world at that time could play the new set, published in 1837 as "12 Great Studies". However, both he and Clara Schumann acclaimed them for their musical as well as technical merits (and she quickly learned to play the ninth one). The formidable technical difficulties, including full orchestral sonorities, danger-filled pyrotechnic finger-work and strenuous passages at the opposing extremes of the keyboard, were inadequately played in a number of recitals by other pianists, and the public gained the impression that these studies were empty vessels for pure pyrotechnics.
In 1852, Liszt reacted to this reception by substantially revising the studies for a third time. He needed to adjust some of the figurations which were now only possible on the earlier wooden-frame pianos with their lighter actions, and to accomodate the greater sonority and range of the latest iron-framed pianos. He simplified the studies, revamped them to conform to fanciful romantic titles which he added to the majority of them (more appealing to the music-buying public) and re-published them as Transcendental Studies in 1851. This is the version which is now best-known and most-recorded.
I have never heard of pianist Massmo Gon, and although there is no biographical information about him in the accompanying booklet, a little research shows him to be based in Italy and an important teacher/mentor of pianists, as well as a much-travelled recitalist.
Having compared his version of the most difficult (1837) version of the 12 studies track-for-track with the version by Leslie Howard in his complete Liszt series for Hyperion, I must congratulate Ludomentis for setting down Maximo Gon's magnificent and deeply-thought interpretation. In every study he substantially outclasses Howard. While Howard undoubtedly has the necessary technical armoury, in his hands I found the more extrovert studies tended to outstay their welcome, as his dynamic range is narrower than Gon's, and in the protracted climaxes he sounds laboured and perilously close to what my piano teacher used to warn me about - the dreaded "banging". Gon tends to follow the very many special instructions with which Liszt uniquely peppered these scores about rubato and expression. He also allows time for the music to breathe, and is aware of the fact that a climax itself moves towards a point of highest tension, rather than the more monotonous loudness of Howard's approach.
Taking a few examples, in the 3rd Study (Paysages in the 1851 re-vamp) Gon is so much more poetic, his tone rich and beautifully moulded, flowing and nuanced, making Howard sound perfunctory. In the climax he is not just loud but grand and inspirational, his textures sounding like impassioned late Rachmaninov. In Study 4 (Mazeppa in 1851) Howard rushes in headlong but his melodic chords are jerky and too emphatic, tiring to listen to and with not much light and shade. Gon rather has an epic, grandiose opening; the arch and forward projection of his melodic line is clear, with a thrilling plunge into the slower
lyrical mid-section. Here he floats an eloquent, lovely cantabile, decorated with spontaneous-sounding filigree treble chording - again so much more light and shade compared to Howard. Later, he plays the main theme as a proud march with spectacular harp-like decoration. Moving to the quiet and lyrical Study no. 9 (later entitled Ricordanza), Gon goes far beyond Howard's understated manner (like a polite drawing room ballad) to give us a full-blooded love poem with more of his characteristic rich singing melody line and its spontaneous-sounding Chopinesque flourishes; so ardent and romantic, ending with the utmost tenderness, leaving you holding your breath.
In short, each study from Gon sounds almost like a different piece when compared with Howard's efforts.
This, therefore, is pianism on another plane. Massimo Gon curdles your blood, chills you to the bone and tugs at your heart-strings, making each study not only a technical tour-de-force but a deeply felt tone-poem, just as Liszt intended. Even if you have a good recording of the 1851 Transcendental Etudes (e.g. Liszt: 12 Études d’exécution transcendante - Arrau), you should hear the very different 1837 version. Gon's dramatic and absorbing interpretations of these studies will not easily be surpassed.
As a perfect foil to this feast of pianism, the DSD sonics are simply superb. The Velut Luna engineers chose a small/medium concert hall such as Liszt would have known, the Arabesque Hall in Valdagno, Italy, as illustrated in the leaflet. They set up a 5.0 array in a near single-point source configuration with Shoeps microphones at front row distance from the piano, recording direct to hard disk in DSD (and PCM for the DVD-A disc). Editing was in DSD or high-res PCM realms as appropriate. The result is an amazingly realistic sound-picture of the well-prepared Steinway in its acoustic location. About a minute into the first track, Gon pauses, lets the full resonance of the piano develop and then takes his foot off the sustaining pedal. The felt dampers kiss the strings, and you can hear their overtones die sequentially. This is a sound that everyone who has played a grand piano knows well, and I have never heard it so perfectly reproduced. It startled me when I first heard it, as momentarily I was convinced that I had a Steinway in my listening room! That said, the overall richness and authority of the Steinway bass and the distortion-free ping of its highest treble notes are fully at the command of Maximo Gon's formidable technique and wide dynamic range. Demonstration worthy sound indeed. Unfortunately, it made the RBCD piano recording on Lesley Howard's disc sound rather boxy and restricted in the treble, not a fair comparison, of course.
I think that all of Ludomentis' gambles in their first SACD launch were justified; this package is a triumph in every respect. Not only do you get one of the finest interpretations of the Liszt 12 Studies I could imagine, recorded with true fidelity (to use a nearly-forgotten word from the early days of audio!), but you get a package which enables you to compare the main audio carrier formats in a domestic setting, at a very reasonable price. I am astonished that it has remained so far un-reviewed on this site. This issue deserves to be snapped up! It is very expensive for small companies to record in pure DSD, and they deserve encouragement to keep doing so. And I would implore Ludomentis to persuade Massimo Gon to make some more SACDs.
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Copyright © 2008 John Miller and SA-CD.net
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