Antti Siirala doesn’t interpret Brahms’ F minor sonata so much as he defoliates it. Scrupulous to a fault, Siirala irons out the music’s craggy contours, takes great pains to extract hidden counterpoints, and tapers phrases to microscopic levels of calibration. The results soften the rhythmic impetus of bass lines and pedal points (especially in the first two movements) and miss Emanuel Ax’s sonorous warmth and textural variety, to say nothing of Arthur Rubinstein’s impetuous ardor. Both Murray Perahia and Clifford Curzon replicate Siirala’s sharply articulated dotted rhythms in a more congenial, vocally oriented context, with infinitely more color. Perhaps the top-heavy, bass-shy engineering fuels my overall impression. Fortunately, Siirala kicks up his dancing boots for the Waltzes, allowing their charm, swagger, and ingenuous cross-rhythms full due (Nos. 1, 6, and 14, for example). My reference versions of the Sonata remain safely immune to this icy contender.
