Igor Levit and Beethoven Piano Sonatas

I was surprised recently reading a survey of recordings of Beethoven's final piano sonata, Opus 111 by the commentator Norman Lebrecht, to read that of the 150 or so recordings of this work, Mr Lebrecht did not mention that by Igor Levit. Levit's recording was extravagantly praised when it arrived (not least by me). After nearly 70 years of reading critical opinions, I have gathered that they are 70% subjective, and only 30% objective. Opinions can be distorted by fashion, nationalism, racial preferences, political animosity, advertising and sponsorship. I recall the mother of a prominent violinist telling me once: “But we paid for international distribution!” And anyone in the current social media climate daring to voice any kind of opinion, is bound to attract a negative claque.

I have been re-listening to Igor Levit's recording of the five final Beethoven piano sonatas (omitting the Hammerklavier, that I have never taken to). Levit is a serious pianist who does not play to the gallery, and I always feel that the music coming from his finger tips, is the music as he feels it in his bones. He remains my kind of pianist. If there are indeed around 150 recordings of Opus 111, there cannot possibly be a “best”. But Levit's is up there in the top 10%, for me.

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

A big cheer for Simone Kermes and her new CD of twelve arias from "18th century Naples". A CD I really hesitate to file on my shelves; I need it close to hand! Astonishing, and scandalous, that nine out of the twelve arias are claimed to be "world premier recordings". The music from Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Nicola Antonio Porpora, Leonardo Vinci, Leonardo Leo and Johann Adolf Hasse is as delightful as strawberries and cream on a warm summer's day. Nearly as delightful as Kermes' singing is the band of Le Musiche Nove conducted by Claudio Osele. A 24 carat gold CD. I am next in line for whatever Simone Kermes comes up with in the future.

Simone Kermes, and Handel

Not too many composers or compositions have survived in the top ranks of my nearly 70 years of listening. One who has survived, however, is Georg Frideric Händel (however his name is spelled through the ages). To this day, I listen to a lot of Handel's music (mainly arias from his 50 or so operas, or his many Italian cantatas). Like Richard Strauss, Handel appears to have loved the soprano voice (and I join them in this). For 18^th century baroque music, I often turn to the German soprano Simone Kermes. She is a lover of 18^th century baroque opera, and this shows in her singing, her dedication, and in her choice of musical partners. My current listening is a CD of Handel's music with the late Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco. A wonderful selection of arias by lovelorn sorceresses billed as La Maga Abbandonata. One hour of listening to some of the greatest music of Europe, sung by a supreme coloratura soprano. A recording from my “keep at hand and do not file away” selection. Who can possibly resist “Pena tirana” from Amadigi, or “Ah, mio cor” from Alcina? Not I. Music for eternity, music to die to.

 

Domenico Scarlatti, and Yevgeny Sudbin

I have just been re-listening with enormous pleasure to two and a half hours of 36 piano sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. The variety and powers of invention found in these works is truly amazing; few last for longer than four or five minutes, but I much prefer two and a half hours of Scarlatti to two and a half hours of Chopin, Liszt or Brahms. Many pianists include some of the sonatas in recitals — on disc, there are pianists as varied as Clara Haskil and Yuja Wang — but my 36 for this session were played by the pianist born in St Petersburg, Yevgeny Sudbin. He is a pianist with a relatively low profile – no Yuja or Lang Lang, he. But he is a highly musical pianist with an immaculate technique and he takes to Scarlatti like a duck to water. He plays, thank goodness, on a modern piano; although the sonatas were written for an 18^th century harpsichord, they sound so much better when played on a good modern piano whatever learned musical pundits may decree. Three stars for Sudbin, but also three stars for Scarlatti. This was only a sampling of the 550 or so keyboard sonatas by Scarlatti (who was born in 1685, the miraculous year that also saw the births of Handel and Bach).

Eating in Cambodia 2011

In 2011, with two friends, we hired a taxi and were taken from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (Cambodia). The 300 kilometres journey took five hours. Halfway, we stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. The menu was rice, plus either vegetables, fish, or chicken. The mother and (presumably) daughter, served. The granddaughter, aged around 12-13, translated and calculated the bill in Cambodian riel, Thai baht, American dollars, or European euros. The rice came from the field behind the restaurant; the vegetables likewise, the fish likewise (there was a lake) and the chicken likewise. All was delicious, freshly cooked, and cost us around $3 per person (because we were obviously foreign tourists ready for fleecing).

Since 2011, I have eaten thousands of restaurant meals. But that roadside meal in Cambodia still sticks in my mind with great affection. I hope the family restaurant is still there, and thriving