United Kingdom Chopin and Ravel: Tim Horton (piano). Wigmore Corridor, London, 16.1.2026. (MB)
Chopin – Nocturne in C minor, Op.48 No.1; Nocturne in F-sharp minor, Op.48 No.2; Scherzo No.1 in B minor; Scherzo No.2 in B-flat minor, Op.31; Scherzo No.3 in C-sharp minor, Op.39; Scherzo No.4 in E main, Op.54
Ravel – Valses nobles et sentimentales
The Op.48 Nocturnes, two of Chopin’s best, make for an arresting opening to any recital. This, the most recent in Tim Horton’s Wigmore Corridor collection, was no exception. Once more, I used to be struck by the freshly thought-about nature of the pianist’s interpretations: not in order to be totally different for the sake of it, however somewhat with good musical warrant that had me suppose – and rethink – items I assumed I knew properly. Each define and element of the Nocturnes appeared to stem from their ternary (A-B-A) kind. The primary part of the C minor Nocturne sounded with stronger differentiation than one typically hears between melody and accompaniment, organising better distinction each with the fantastically voiced four-part concord of the center part and with the newly turbulent accompaniment of the elaborated return, arising from and audibly rising out of each. The F-sharp minor Nocturne supplied, naturally, a distinct relationship between concord and counterpoint at its opening, once more correctly contrasted, and with a distinct, equally convincing synthesis on the shut. This may increasingly sound easy, certainly dry, in written kind, however in efficiency supplied the important thing to understanding.
Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales likewise supplied ternary kind complement and distinction, each in themselves and with respect to Chopin. Rhythmic and harmonic insistence within the first waltz ensured that what adopted – not solely its instant successor – might soften and attraction, however consequently. Certainly, that sense of the better complete was a specific power all through: these will not be items to be heard individually, gaining somewhat from their place within the sequence. Ravel’s emergence from inside the spirit and writing of Chopin was clear and significant. The tonal interferences to which Jim Samson referred in one other wonderful programme notice – not the least contribution to this collection – supplied simply the correct quantity of ‘chew’, as we hurtled if not fairly to the brink, then a minimum of within the course, of La valse.
Presenting 4 Scherzi in a row is perhaps considered tempting destiny. Would they work higher as document than live performance programme? Not a little bit of it, a minimum of in the proper arms, that mixture of complement and distinction in (broadly, modified or maybe higher ‘prolonged’?) ternary kind once more serving to form their success. With out forcing them into too overt a way of development between the 4, that sense manifested itself by efficiency and listening: a quasi-sonata of types. Extremity of contrasts within the B minor Scherzo’s opening materials set the parameters for what was to return, in a method not so distant from Beethoven. (There are scherzos/scherzi in spite of everything, even when with out Beethoven’s gruff humour.) But for all of the Classicism of kind, which in any case can readily be exaggerated, there was a parallel, even opposing modernism within the fragmentary nature of sure figures. The trio sang, getting ready the way in which (not in contrast to the Nocturnes originally) for better fury within the scherzo’s reprise. A resolute lack of sentimentality – who needs to listen to a sentimental scherzo? – carried by into the Second, progressively integrative, once more connecting again to the opening Nocturnes, and just a bit enigmatic. Generative rhythm – current, even when in abeyance – characterised the Third. Would possibly it have been a little bit extra grandiloquent, in step with the Lisztian boldness of its opening? Maybe, however there isn’t any one ‘proper’ method in such music, and this supplied its personal rewards. The flip from minor keys to E main for the Fourth Scherzo maintained impeccable line that took us in new instructions, while properly concluding these previous. Structural integrity underlay keyboard wizardry and poetic expression alike.
Mark Berry
