Variations on Balkan Themes; Three Pieces; Prelude and Fugue etc
Martina Frezzotti (piano)
Piano Classics PCL10277 65:01 mins
The sheer quantity of Amy Beach’s output indicates a prolific composer who meant business. Its quality, especially that of her piano writing, demands attention and recognition. In this excellent account of well-chosen works, composed across some 40 years, the Italian pianist Martina Frezzotti is a superb advocate, never stinting on demonstrating the virtuosity Beach demands, or the heights of her emotional expression.
The American composer started out as a prodigiously gifted pianist, and she studied with a pupil of Liszt before making her official debut at the age of 16. After her marriage, she was restricted to giving just two performances a year, but composing quietly at home was not frowned upon in the same way as – shock horror – appearing on a stage. She resumed her performing career after her husband’s death in 1910 and continued to compose for the rest of her life.
Although these works are not arranged in chronological order, the contrasts between them highlight the progression in Beach’s language, from the early salon piece Dreaming to the impressively rugged Variations on Balkan Themes, and beyond. The later works, despite pictorial titles, exceed salon pieces, often making Lisztian demands upon the pianist’s technical abilities. Honeysuckle twists and twines apace; Humming Bird is a positively impressionistic perpetuum mobile.
The programme begins with the two most intense creations: the imposing cries of Out of the Depths and the Variations on Balkan Themes find Beach at times risking sensory overload. Frezzotti, who studied at Imola under Lazar Berman, brings the music a generous, refulgent sound and a strong sense of perspective through well-controlled voicing. Recorded sound is sometimes a little over-bright, but basically good.
