In 2013 Jonathan Biss launched a series of concerts titled “Under the Influence”, examining Robert Schumann, composers who influenced him, and composers that he influenced. The first half of his May 22 Wigmore Hall concert contained Schumann’s Fantasiestücke Op. 12 interspersed with movements from the first book of Janácek’s On an overgrown path. Such programming usually smacks of gimmickry, yet here the juxtapositions flow easily and naturally.
Helped by Biss’s brisker than usual tempo, the floating cantilena of Schumann’s Des Abends slips comfortably into Janácek’s Nase vecery, whose tumultuous middle section telegraphs Schumann’s Aufschwung. Likewise, Schumann’s Warum? and Janácek’s Listek odvanuty are lyrical kindred spirits, while Grillen’s gruff chordal textures and In der Nacht’s cresting arpeggiations provide contrasting bookends to Janácek’s sparse and desolate Dobrou noci.
If Biss’s Traumes Wirren doesn’t scintillate like Richter’s quicker and suppler interpretation, his attention to left-hand details and dotted rhythms should be noticed. His varied voicings and controlled flexibility help diffuse Ende von Lied’s square phrase structure. Biss’s interpretation of the Schumann Davidsbundlertänze has considerably evolved over the years since his 2003 EMI debut recording. Reviewing the latter, I praised the pianist’s skillful polyphonic acumen while criticizing his underplaying of some of the more fanciful movements.
Right off the bat, No. 1 is more pointed, animated, and texturally transparent here than on EMI, while No. 2’s middle voice is far more shapely. No. 4’s textural strands are clearer and better organized, yet the earlier reading’s wilder abandon seems more, for lack of a better word, “Schumann-esque”. No. 6’s triplet patterns have acquired delightful off-beat inflections and subtle jabbing accents. If Biss still doesn’t really let go in No. 16, he nevertheless projects stronger linear interplay throughout the steady stream of detached chords.
For an encore, Biss gives a beautiful rendition of the last of Schumann’s Op. 133 Gesänge der Frühe, where the escalating 16th notes take a back seat to the organ-like sustained chords and long melody lines. It’s similar to Mitsuko Uchida’s Decca studio recording, but on a smaller, more intimate scale. Incidentally, Berg’s Piano Sonata Op. 1 opened the concert’s second half, and is available as a free download from www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/live. The engineering captures how one might perceive the piano from a center-row seat in the hall, in contrast to the robust warmth and detail of Biss’s ongoing Beethoven cycle releases for the Onyx label.
