Freddy Kempf begins Beethoven’s “Pathetique” sonata in a way that’s destined to prick up the ears of critics and newsgroup participants. After striking the opening chord, he removes his right hand much sooner than the left hand, even though the score clearly indicates that the chord should be sustained with both hands. He does this in other similar spots as well. Maybe Kempf is trying to replicate a period fortepiano’s unreliable damping mechanism? In any case, Kempf’s outsized dynamic contrasts smack more of soap opera than drama, while he spikes his otherwise direct traversal of the movement proper with attention-getting accents and other trivia. Like Rudolf Serkin and Seymour Lipkin, Kempf repeats the introduction–and the Adagio is anything but Cantabile via his plodding, foursquare treatment. However, everything clicks for Kempf in the Rondo.
An air of self-consciousness hovers over the celebrated first movement of the “Moonlight” sonata, as if Kempf felt compelled to interpret. The evidence lies in his contrived dynamic gradations and tenutos. By contrast, Kempf’s deliberately varied voicings throughout the Allegretto are thoroughly in keeping with the music’s chamber-like character, and he turns a firm and exciting finale. The “Appassionata” stands out for the pianist’s tautly organized, texturally clear, and organically energetic outer movements. He doesn’t maintain the slow-movement variations’ cumulative thread with the rhythmic focus and spiritual simplicity you get from Rudolf Serkin, Solomon, Wilhelm Kempff, etc., but that’s a minor issue. Whether in SACD playback mode or standard two-channel stereo, the harsh resonance and strident piano sonority hold little appeal in comparison to the superb sonics gracing the Kempf Trio’s earlier Beethoven release on BIS.
