For anyone who believes
Bartók is all string dissonances and folk music, this CD will dispel any myths. Known as a piano legend in his country even when young,
Bartók composed pieces that, here,
Jenö Jandó performs with great passion, elegance, and taste. It is almost shocking to hear something so turn-of-the-century and
Chopin- or
Liszt-like as
Bartók's Four Piano Pieces, but they are a pure joy to hear. The sweeping, majestic "Study for the Left Hand" is stately and emotional yet with slight reserve.
Jandó brings out each swell in the "Fantasy 1," and plays with impeccable phrasing. "Fantasy 2" is sweet and sensitive. The most exciting movement, the Scherzo, is stirring, with incredible attention to the accents and rhythm and perfect rubato as the music necessitates.
Jandó's piano is a bright, clean instrument that records well. The Petits morceaux are tender, showing another side of the pianist's emotional range. It is in the Two Elegies for Piano that one begins to hear a different sensibility emerge in
Bartók's work, for they branch out into a broader tonality and a deeper exploration of tone color. It was a wise decision to show
Bartók's work chronologically, so as to allow the listener to note the composer's unique character and moving away from a standard Western sound. The First Term at the Piano, made up of 27 tiny movements, is a somewhat odd choice for an album. As one might surmise, they have a schoolchild feel, as they are indeed used even today to instruct beginners at the piano. But they progress somewhat in complexity. The simple, pure counterpoint of No. 6: Moderato leads to the
Bach chorale-like No. 8: Andante and No. 13: Hol jártál; the No. 11: Menuett is indeed a minuet but with a distinctively Hungarian kick; and the syncopated rhythms of No. 17: Allegro deciso are wonderful. Perhaps it says something of an artist of
Jandó's stature, that though he can play difficult repertoire like the Four Piano Pieces so movingly, he also brings careful attention and humility to the First Term at the Piano.