Reviews for Etude

Simply entitled ‘Etude’, Clare Hammond’s recital is gloriously deceptive. For here is no familiar programme of Chopin and Liszt but an enterprising and enthralling challenge for both pianist and listener. Opening with Nos 4, 5 and 6 from Lyapunov’s 12 Transcendental Etudes - a very Russian tribute to Liszt, Hammond then abruptly changes course with Unsuk Chin’s six Piano Etudes (1995-2003) and a world that is ‘abstract and remote’ yet ‘addressing the emotions and communicating joy and warmth’. Then follow Szymanowski’s 12 Op 33 Etudes (already a far cry from the Chopin-inspired earlier set of Op 4) and, finally, Kapustin’s Five Etudes in Different Intervals.

All this could set even the most intrepid virtuoso explorer (Marc-André Hamelin?) by the ears, yet Hammond’s musical intention is always paramount. She storms Lyapunov’s ‘Térek’ and ‘Tempête’ with full-blooded romanticism and finds all the sultry and romantic atmosphere of ‘Nuit d’été’. If Chin’s Etudes betray the influence of her teacher Ligeti, they are also highly individual and distinguished, their often playful quality ironically surfacing through a formidable intricacy. Memories of earlier work (the monstrous Second Sonata) flicker through Szymanowski’s Etudes as well as other composers’ (Scriabin’s double-note Study, Op. 8 No 11), while Kapustin recalls Debussy (‘Pour les octaves’ and ‘Pour les notes répétées’). More to the point, Hammond plays with unfaltering bravura and conviction, and she has been superbly recorded.

Here is a dazzling programme of 20th- and 21st-century Etudes from the young British pianist Clare Hammond, who would deserve many plaudits just for getting through this many notes. With its whirling kaleidoscopes of pianistic effects, this array of wizardry is not for the faint-hearted.

Part of its fascination is hearing the perspective added by the unusual progressions of repertoire; Unsuk Chin’s vividly imagined creations sound closer to the sensual coloration of Szymanowski than one might expect, while the many-layered voicing and driving rhythms of Kapustin’s irresistibly jazzy offerings find plenty of counterparts in the textural patterns of those more elusive soundworlds. The Chin work is especially welcome: the composer studied with Ligeti and seems to have followed him in creating a set of challenging studies that push the instrument’s capacities to the utmost.

It is a gloriously creative programme and Hammond pulls it off without succumbing to any temptations of overt ‘flashiness’ or bombastic technical showing off; instead she favours precision, clarity and seriousness of purpose. Yet I found myself wishing for the character of each composer to be even more strongly defined: we hear the similarities between them perhaps more strongly than the differences - for instance, Kapustin’s rhythms could dig deeper and feel more visceral. Voicing throughout could occasionally be more vividly set in perspective, since at times the focusing threads can seem subsumed into busy textures. Still, it is a terrific achievement and the repertoire is fresh and fantastic.

Hammond explores the continuing concept of the piano étude with imagination and bravura. The 19th-century embodiment of the study, not just as technical training, but expressive daring, remained an inspiration for composers. She begins with three examples from Sergei Lyapunov, richly Romantic in figuration, dextrously unfolded here. Then comes the startling contrast of the thin treble attack of Chin’s post-tonal Six Etudes, the textural imagination as fascinating as the digital experiments are fiendish. Szymanowski’s 12 Studies are a return to sumptuousness; Kapustin’s Five Etudes in Different Intervals open the transcendental study to jazz.

Etude CD Review - style and substance: The young British pianist Clare Hammond is fast building a reputation as a stylish interpreter of the new or less familiar. Until Chopin showed us otherwise, etudes tended to prompt thoughts of dreary studies designed to advance technique. Hammond challenges the assumption with this intriguing showcase. The Russian Sergei Lyapunov (1859-1924) took inspiration from Liszt in his Etudes d’exécution transcendante. Szymanowski (1882-1937) conjures tonalities and delicate colours closer to Debussy than to his fellow Pole, Chopin. The real interest is the set of six Etudes by Unsuk Chin (b1961), witty, angular, pointillistic, and the Five Etudes in Different Intervals, punchy and jazzy, by Nikolai Kapustin (b1937). Hammond brings precision and clarity to all.

Après un disque consacré aux Panufnik père et fille ("Reflections", catalogue no 626), Clare Hammond propose un florilège d'études où les partitions centenaires de Liapounov et Szymanowski voisinent avec des pages écrites entre 1992 et 2003.

Comme leur titre l'indique, les Etudes d'exécution transcendante de Liapounov suivent la voie tracée par Liszt. D'ailleurs, Nuit d'été - que la pianiste imprègne d'une belle finesse - rappelle les Harmonies du soir lisztiennes. L'interprète se tire bien de la haute virtuosité requise. Tout au plus pourra-t-on trouver les strepitosos de Terek un rien timides et Tempête, cet enfant monstrueux qu'auraient eu Chopin et Balakirev, moines tumultueuse que que sous les doigts de Scherbakov (Marco Polo). Bien troussées, tantôt acérées ou diaphanes, les Douze études op. 33 de Szymanowski évoquent souvent le Scriabine tardif, telle la deuxième écho de l'Etude op. 65 no. 1 du compositeur russe. Si Clare Hammond manque parfois d'aisance (Opus 33 No. 6) et doit d'incliner devant la clarté et le volontarisme de Martin Roscoe (Naxos), il faut saluer sa subtilité et la magnificence sonore.

Changement de braquet avec les pages des compositeurs vivants, où la pianist britannique apparaît cette fois parfaitement à l'aise. Les remarquables études d'Unsuk Chin (née en 1961) s'apparentent à la traversée d'un miroir glacé (1), ou revêtent les habits d'une diabolique toccata (5) se souvenant de Ligeti - donc Chin a été l'élève - en ses rythmes asymétriques. L'exceptionnelle finesse d'articulation, la vitalité éloquente et la force de conviction de Clare Hammond - qui surclasse la version de Yejin Gil (Solstice) - rendent justice au travail d'orfèvre de la musicienne sud-coréenne.

Brillantes et ludiques, jazzy ou évoquent un film muet en accéléré, les oeuvres de Nikolaï Kapustin (né en 1937) sont toujours payantes pour l'instrumentiste qui sait en dominer les embûches. La pianiste détaille le text et apporte une chaleur absente de la version rapide et virtuose de Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion). En dépit de menues réserves, un disque revigorant.

Die in Deutschland noch unbekannte britische Pianistin Clare Hammond präsentiert sich auf ihrer hier vorliegenden zweiten CD (eine erste, beim gleichen Label, enthielt Werke von Andrzej Panufnik und dessen Tochter Roxanna Panufnik) als ausgesprochene Virtuosin. Das legt der Titel „Etude“ schon nahe, obwohl sie nicht die ursprünglichen, kompositorisch eher primitiven Etüden vorstellt, sondern aus der späteren Geschichte dieser Gattung solche Werke, die pianistisch-technische Problemstellungen mit einem kompositorisch-expressiven Anspruch verbinden. Dabei wandelt der russische Spätromantiker Sergej Ljapunov nicht nur mit dem Titel seiner Etüden, sondern auch mit dem klanglichen Ergebnis deutlich auf den Spuren Franz Liszts. Die dunkel getönten Stücke, denen Clare Hammond rhythmischen Drive verleiht, erweisen sich gleichwohl als durchaus reizvoll.

Die bisher erschienenen sechs Etüden (aus einem geplanten zwölfteiligen Zyklus) der in Berlin lebenden Koreanerin Unsuk Chin sind technisch intrikate Herausforderungen mit wechselnder poetisch-narrativer Charakteristik. Während in der Ersteinspielung des Werkes durch die Koreanerin Mei Yi Foo (Odradek Records 1700302) das poetisch-klangliche Moment mehr im Vordergrund stand, wählt Clare Hammond eine betont sportlich-virtuose Annäherung; ihre Wiedergabe ist meist auch etwas schneller, während bei den eher verhaltenen Passagen geringfügig die Spannung abfällt. Im Gegensatz zur Interpretin, die ihre CD selbst betextet hat, muß allerdings betont werden, dass der Hinweis auf Chins Lehrer György Ligeti hier nicht viel besagt: Während Ligeti bei seinen Klavieretüden eine vorwiegend mathematische Idee sich konsequent entwickeln läßt, steht bei Unsuk Chin doch die Auslotung des expressiven Potentials von Klang- und Registerwechseln an erster Stelle.

Auch bei den spätimpressionistischen Etüden von Karol Szymanowski und den jazzigen Stücken von Nikolaj Kapustin erweist sich Clare Hammond als souveräne Technikerin, die aber auch enormen Klangsinn zu entfalten in der Lage ist. Eine interessante und hörenswerte Zusammenstellung abseits der ausgewalzten Klavierpfade.

It would not be surprising if this recital includes all 88 keys of the piano This is a tremendous pile of notes. What makes this selection of études remarkable, though, is not the density of the material, but the variety of stylistic approaches to the format among the four composers represented here. We have a dazzling grouping of piano works that are designed to improve the skill of the instrumentalist, but are at the same time delightful to behold by the listener as well, in the manner of the études of Chopin and Liszt.

Three of the composers, Sergei Lyapunov, Karol Szymanowski, and Nikolai Kapustin, share a Slavic penchant for rich, complex harmonies and a strong lyrical underpinning. The oldest of these trio, Lyapunov, comes from the end of the 19th century, and although the immediate inspiration here is Liszt, there are strong premonitions of Rachmaninoff. Szymanowski arrives a generation later, and here we get Polish traditions morphing into a highly cosmopolitan voice, including the powerful influence of Debussy. The increasingly popular music of Nikolai Kapustin, who is still with us, is best known for the influence of jazz. It is fantastical music, and I still remember hearing it in concert for the first time at a Marc-André Hamelin recital, as it produced astonished giggles from the audience.

South Korean composer Unsuk Chin is the odd woman out in this quartet, so to speak. She was a student of Ligeti in the late 1980s, and shares this wonderful maverick's sense for joyful Modernism, as well as a puckish sense of humour. Chin has had training as a pianist, but this music is more in keeping with her current interest in electronic music, which is to say, the music is presented with an emphasis on textures and other vertical elements, as opposed to melodic flow and momentum (which is abundant in the work of the other three composers). Or, as Clare Hammond puts it in a bit of diplomatic understatement, in her smart and informative notes, "figurations lie awkwardly under the hand". This superb British pianist is easily up to the challenge, giving us a beautifully produced and highly stimulating recital.

This is one of the most enjoyable recordings to come my way this year. Hammond has chosen almost all unknown works, all bristling with technical challenges, but most satisfying in a musical sense as well. The variety of styles presented under the common title "Etude" is huge; everything from Liapounov's romantic Russian virtuosity to Szymanowski, the most obvious Polish successor to Chopin in that idiom. Korean Chin mixes eastern and western styles under the influence of Ligeti, and there are jazz etudes by Ukrainian Kapustin. There is not an uninteresting moment to be found on this exceptionally well recorded recital. Hammond also writes very well, and her booklet essay is both informative and entertaining.

The etudes here were composed from 1897 to 2003. I was familiar with Liapounov's homage to Liszt, a set of 12 Transcendental Etudes. The sonic difference between Louis Kentner's recording of the complete set (1949) and this new BIS is truly night and day. I can only hope that Hammond continues with these and eventually has a complete set. The three here (4,5,6) take 17 minutes.

Unsuk Chin (b. 1961) studied with Ligeti in Germany and wrote her etudes over the course of eight years. The last one is the most substantial and was written for Pierre Boulez's 75th birthday. These are fiendishly difficult, and they got more enjoyable with each hearing. Szymanowski's Op. 33 Etudes were written at about the same time as Debussy's. They show the influence of both contemporary French (Debussy and Ravel) and Russian (Stravinsky) styles. Kapustin (see another review of his music in this issue) mastered the American jazz style from a study of the greats (Erroll Gardner was a favourite). He uses this style in etudes devoted to specific, different intervals - as we find in Chopin, Debussy and Scriabin. Here we have minor 2nds, 4ths, 6ths, major 2nds, and octaves. All in quick tempos, these make for a brilliant conclusion to a superb release.