Review by Dalton August 22, 2003 (5 of 7 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
I mostly agree with the previous reviewer. I generally withhold my opinion on sonics until I've lived with a new SACD for a while. Many times, what sounds excellent on first hearing doesn't hold up to scrutiny after the novelty has worn off. But I've had this SACD for a couple of weeks now and keep coming back to it frequently. The sound quality of this recording is absolutely stunning. This is the best-sounding solo piano recording I have ever heard. In stereo, there's a Steinway in my living room. But in multichannel, you are transported to the concert hall and treated to the sound of this spectacularly well-prepared Steinway concert grand. Attack, timbre, overtones, decay, etc. all sound very convincing to me. We're close enough to hear the sound of the dampers brush off the strings at times, but not too close - a nice balance. No hint of harshness, compression or collapse of the harmonic structure in loud or complex passages as is so common with so many piano recordings (especially on CD). It's hard to believe, without actually hearing it, how much of a difference multichannel recording can make with a solo instrument.
Unfortunately, the sound is only beguiling to the point that you almost forget that you are listening to a pianist who hasn't quite made these works her own. There is a lack of that last spark of interpretive insight that carries the listener past a mere rote performance. Ms. Kodama has technique to burn - you never get the sense that she's tiring or losing her way. That may be part of the problem. I was drawn to the virtuosic display rather than the soul of the music. Sometimes these fine distinctions are hard to put into words. But, for example, although the tempo of the 3rd movement of the "Les adieux" seemed correct, one got a sense not of ecstasy but of hysteria. The "Waldstein" as a whole comes through the best, the nadir is the Andante of the "Appassionata". Still, there is nothing glaringly bad or "wrong" with the performance, and I recommend this SACD. But if only the performance matched the excellence of the recording...
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