Beethoven, Busoni, Bach/Busoni

Album review

Jae Hong Park, a 22-year-old Korean pianist, was particularly successful at the last edition of the Ferruccio-Busoni Competition in Bolzano, Italy, in 2021. This programme, which was released by Decca and produced by Universal's very active Korean subsidiary features Beethoven's huge Hammerklavier, and a rarer work by Busoni, the 10 Variationen über ein Präludium von Chopin.

This young Korean’s piano playing has many truly beautiful qualities, each one sublimely captured here. There is real passion and intensity in the initial Allegro from Beethoven's great Sonata, welcome restraint in the Scherzo that follows, and the initial chords of Adagio Sostenuto have great polyphonic readability. His incredible rendition is beautifully lyrical, and honours Beethoven’s incredible legacy. Jae Hong Park captures the enigmatic tone of the introduction to Allegro risoluto (Fugue), whilst the rest of the piece is nothing short of joyous. Here, the pianist gets lost in his instrument and impresses with his masterful articulation and incredible understanding of register.

Just like Rachmaninov’s cycle (Op. 22), Busoni’s ten Variationen über ein Präludium von Chopin (BV 213a) also feature Prelude No. 20 from the Polish-French composer's Op. 28. More compact than that of his Russian colleague (12 minutes as opposed to 36 minutes), Busoni's cycle is highly virtuosic, rather dark in character and clearly reminiscent of Franz Liszt. Jae Hong Park’s clarity of sound is exciting. A pianist to watch. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz