Combine Chopin’s scinitllating virtuoso piano writing with the lush textural doublings and orchestrally inspired chord deployment Schumann favored, and you’ll get an inkling of what Adolf von Henselt’s 24 piano etudes sound like–and for that matter, what they feel like under the fingers. They cover all the major and minor keys while leaving few technical difficulties unaddressed. In fact, some of the composer’s broken chords and rolling bass-register figurations anticipate Brahms (the B-flat minor Etude from Op. 2, for example). Although Henselt’s etudes may not always be the most harmonically interesting works in this genre, their pianistic substance and seriousness of intent hold your attention. So do his best lyrical inspirations: the Mendelssohnian E-flat major from Op. 2, the B major “Liebeslied” (Op. 5 No. 11), or “Ave Maria” (Op. 5 No. 4), with its flowing accompaniment and surprising chromatic twists.
Michael Ponti’s energetic though choppy and brittle-toned Vox recordings of Op. 2 can be safely retired in light of Piers Lane’s impressive technical finish and near transcendent mastery. You may wish for greater color and delicacy at times, or more sustaining power in long-lined melodies (such as “Danklied nach Sturm” Op. 5 No. 6); and Lane also plays coy in the famous F-sharp major etude “Si oiseau j’etais” compared to the brusque pride with which Rachmaninov dispatched the double notes in his bygone acoustic recording. But these are tiny quibbles. If you’re attracted to forgotten Romantic piano music of a high order, this release recommends itself. [2/18/2005]
