Busoni, Lutz, Brahms, Bach: Chaconne

Album review

A terrific idea that almost but not quite comes off, this disc called Chaconne takes as its basis Bach's Chaconne from his D minor Partita for solo violin and adds transcriptions of the work for piano by Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, and Rudolf Lutz, the last named the teacher of pianist Edna Stern. It nearly succeeds. Stern's playing in the transcriptions is far more than professional, but not quite up to the level of the music. In Busoni's super-virtuoso transcription that opens the disc, Stern can do most of what Busoni demands, but there are passages in the central choral that are beyond her. In Lutz' quasi-modernist transcription that follows, Stern can do everything that Lutz requires, but he did, after all, write the transcription with her in mind. In Brahms' severely austere transcription that follows, Stern can play most but not all of the notes and catches and some but not much of the somber asceticism of the tone. The original version of the Chaconne that closes the disc is well but not altogether persuasively played by violinist Amandine Beyer. While one looks forward to hearing more by these artists, listeners looking for outstanding performances of the Chaconne are advised to look elsewhere -- to Michelangeli's shattering virtuosity in Busoni's transcription, to Zimmerman's stunning intensity in Brahms' transcription and to Milstein's staggering concentration in Bach's original. Harmonia Mundi's Zig Zag's sound is so present it's palpable.

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