{"id":1878,"date":"2012-02-26T07:49:12","date_gmt":"2012-02-26T12:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=1878"},"modified":"2012-02-26T07:49:12","modified_gmt":"2012-02-26T12:49:12","slug":"cd-review-bach-and-schubert-sing-in-pianist-simone-dinnersteins-something-being-said","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2012\/02\/26\/cd-review-bach-and-schubert-sing-in-pianist-simone-dinnersteins-something-being-said\/","title":{"rendered":"CD Review: Bach and Schubert sing in pianist Simone Dinnerstein’s Something Being Said"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>SIMONE DINNERSTEIN<\/a><\/strong>
\nSomething Almost Being Said (Sony Classical)<\/em><\/p>\n

I have to confess I was seduced by New Yorker Simone Dinnerstein from the first time I heard her recording of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations<\/em> nearly five years ago. It hasn’t been unconditional love since, but a respect and appreciation for a musician who can bend everything she touches to suit her will.<\/p>\n

Her latest disc, Something Being Said<\/em>, is an all-solo affair that presents an compelling pairing of the first two of Bach’s six Partitas<\/em> for keyboard with Franz Schubert’s four Op. 90 Impromptus<\/em>. (The title of the album comes from the opening of “The Trees,” a poem by Philip Larkin: “The trees are coming into leaf\/ Like something almost being said.”)<\/p>\n

Dinnerstein’s interpretations make me think about the inner and outer aspects of a piece of music. Although we’re not likely to be conscious of this as listeners, both need to be balanced in order for a piece to come to life properly.<\/p>\n

Anyone alive today grew up listening to the keyboard music of J.S. Bach interpreted in a clear, methodical way that emphasizes\u00a0 counterpoint, which is all about harmonies and clusters of notes speaking to each other inside the music. Most modern pianists add a motoric drive to give the music an external force.<\/p>\n

This also holds true for Schubert’s Impromptus<\/em>, which are traditionally given strong, virtuosic interpretations.<\/p>\n

Dinnerstein, on the other hand, tosses out a focus on motion in favour of making the music sing.<\/p>\n

Glenn Gould\u2019s bones must have been rattling in his grave as Dinnerstein recorded her sleek, elegant, almost misty renditions of the Partitas<\/em>. Just as seductive are the silken, reflective Impromptus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

These interpretations won’t please people looking for piano with punch, but Dinnerstein’s limpid playing deserves a listen.<\/p>\n

I find myself asking, over and over, why we need another recording of this or that work from the classical canon. Interpretations like Dinnerstein’s provide a clear answer.<\/p>\n

Here is the “music video” that Sony issued with the album:<\/p>\n