Back to Bach: Liszt, Rachmaninov, Busoni. Kenneth Hamilton piano
Liszt:
Fantasy and Fugue on the theme BACH. Variations on a Theme of Bach ‘Weinen,
Klangen, Sorgen, Zagen’.
Bach/Rachmaninov:
Suite from the Violin Partita in E Major.
Bach/Busoni:
Choral Prelude ‘Nun komm der Heiden Heiland’. Chaconne from Violin Partita in D
Minor. Chorale Prelude ‘Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ’.
PRIMAFACIE 061
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This album of ‘tributes and transcriptions’ gives us
a picture of J. S. Bach, refracted though the aesthetics of the Romantic era.
Kenneth Hamilton performs Bach transcriptions by Rachmaninov and Busoni, framed
by more freely inventive concert works by Liszt. The Rachmaninov, a piano arrangement
of the E-Minor Violin Partita, comes closest to Bach in sound, but even here adventurous
harmonies are added and textures are filled out. So the result is a programme
of Romantic piano works with Bach as a background presence, and often only a
distant one, especially in the Liszt.
The programme is well chosen, and three composers
offering valuable contrast within the theme. In fact, the quantity of repertoire
that could fit within this subject is huge, and the disc could easily have been
filled with only Busoni Bach transcriptions or with variations on Baroque
themes by either Liszt of Rachmaninov. But bringing them together is an
excellent idea, especially for the contrast it proposes between the volcanic
pianism of Liszt and the more gentle and harmonically sophisticated sound of
Busoni. The Rachmaninov Suite acts as an interlude within this, lighter fare
between the more substantial works. Kenneth Hamilton is a protégé of the
composer and pianist Ronald Stevenson, and Stevenson’s Lisztian passion for
large-scale piano transcription has clearly informed the programming here. I
notice that Stevenson himself wrote a set of 18 Variations on a Bach Chorale,
so I’m surprised not to find it here. Perhaps that is being saved up for volume
2.
The performances are excellent. Hamilton focuses on
drama in the Liszt and atmosphere in the Busoni, while also bringing out all
the details from both composers. The passagework in the Liszt is crystal clear,
with astute and disciplined pedalling. The chord voicing in the Busoni is similarly
refined, offering both warmth and focus.
The recorded sound is immediate and involving. The
recording was made at the concert hall of the Cardiff University Music Department,
a bright but usually over-resonant acoustic for solo piano, but recording
engineer Philip Hardman seems to have tamed the space. The bass end of the
piano sometimes sounds a little constricted, but even there the detail more
than compensates.
An excellent recital, then, of Bach-inspired works,
well chosen and well played throughout. Kenneth Hamilton is not yet well
represented in the catalogue, although Primafacie has also released an album from
him of Ronald Stevenson—entitled Volume 1, so perhaps that is where the Bach
Variations will turn up. In the mean time, more Liszt and especially more
Busoni from him would be very welcome.
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