Reynaldo Hahn — the Venezuelan-born prodigy-turned-quintessential Parisian salonista — is fondly remembered for his gorgeous art songs. Almost unknown are his solo piano pieces, which are, to put it simply, exquisite songs without words, miniatures to savour like fine truffles.
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Italian pianist Cristina Ariagno, who has made a specialty of French music from the Belle époque, has recorded a four-CD box set of everything Hahn wrote for solo piano, a massive task that includes a number of premiere recordings.
The box also comes with a DVD that chronicles the making of the album as well as providing background on Ariagno and Hahn.
This is an excellent set for a collector or someone with tastes as specific as Ariagno’s. There have to be a couple dozen true gems in this treasure chest, but only a connoisseur or collector or music historian would enjoy everything here.
For one thing, there is a lot of stuff from Hahn’s adolescence. Granted, he was taking composition from Jules Massenet by age 11, but that doesn’t mean he had anything truly insightful to say. Hahn’s world was one of shiny surfaces, boldy perfumed socialites and witty conversation — and the music reflects this perfectly.
Ariagno, playing Fazioli’s best concert grand at the piano maker’s own auditorium in Italy, brings this gilded time to vivid, elegant life.
In many ways, the collection is an aural postcard from Paris circa 1900 — and no less worthy because of it. But seekers of musical sinew and substance will have to look elsewhere.
I was particularly taken by a set of four portraits of painters from 1894, written by a 20-year-old Hahn inspired by the poems of Marcel Proust. The pieces — depicting Albert Cuyp, Paulus Potter, Anton Van Dyck and Antoine Watteau — are beautiful, virtuosic and full of clever little musical quotes.
Also on Disc 4 is Hahn’s also very clever variation-style contribution to a 1909 commemoration of the centenary of Haydn’s death, an excellent Sonatina from 1907, a sensuous Bacchante endormie from 1905 and a hilarious musical satire of Debussy from 1912 called La Création du monde.
You can find out more about this excellent musical expedition into the salons of Paris here.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
