Piano transcription buffs will have a field day with no less than 11 Minute Waltz arrangements from the heyday of romantic pianist/composers, plus 10 more similarly gussied-up Chopin compositions. Moritz Moskowski, Rafael Joseffy, Moritz Rosenthal, and Isadore Philipp each serve up the famous D-flat Waltz’s running melody in thirds, but with varied embellishments elsewhere. Aleksander Michalowski adds a bravura introduction, while another Philipp study assigns the waltz to the left hand. Leopold Godowsky’s lovely, lily-gilding harmonization points the way toward Sorabji’s two surreal, hallucinatory pastiches. Reger’s recasting builds the waltz from the bass register up, alongside four other studies that elaborate upon the Op. 42 and Op. 64 No. 2 Waltzes, A-flat Impromptu, and double-thirds etude (here played in sixths). Joseffy subjects the “Black-Key” Etude to thankless, double-note treatment, just as Brahms sets the Op. 25 No. 2 etude’s flowing right hand melody as sixths. By contrast, Alfred Cortot’s solo setting of the Largo from Chopin’s Cello Sonata is simplicity itself. For droll, lightweight “Chopin meets Jazz”, check out Louis Gruenberg’s two Jazz Masks and Joe Furst’s Showpan Boogie. The sleeper among the Minute Waltz contenders, however, is Giuseppi Ferrata’s ingenuous transcription, with its deft register displacements, booming left-hand octave sequences, and subtle dramatic build. Fredrik Ullén must have practiced all these finger-twisters to the bone. He makes them sound utterly easy, and plays with, rather than playing at, the music. Who said Romantic pianism is a lost art? Not here it ain’t. Lastly, Ullén plays Chopin’s pure, unadulterated Minute Waltz as is, with no frills or add-ons. I write these words just hours after listening to this disc several times. My ears are still smiling.
