Aaron Copland’s early Passacaglia and later Piano Fantasy demand the utmost in virtuosic flair, stamina, and rhythmic focus from any pianist brave enough to face their difficulties. Peter Vinograde embodies these qualities as well as any Copland pianist on disc, and perhaps more than others. Reading Henry Cowell’s description of Paul Creston’s Seven Theses as “atonal and dissonant…and as difficult to listen to as they are to play,” I was surprised just how consonant, inventive, and accessible this 1935 opus sounds in 2004. The same goes for Creston’s large-scale Metamorphoses, a set of variations constructed upon a 28-note theme containing all 12 tones of the chromatic scale played at least twice. Vinograde’s assured keyboard command and full grasp of Creston’s gnarly chords and figurations ought to inspire pianists to investigate this stimulating and wrongly neglected repertoire. In this company of Copland and Creston, the younger Mark Zuckerman’s earnestly crafted On The Edges makes a less individual impression. Still, Vinograde’s vivacious performance holds your attention. While the recorded sound is a bit dry, flinty in tone, and lacking the dynamic range this repertoire cries out for, you clearly hear a big pianist in charge.
