It appears that Bridge has picked up the Beethoven cycle that Garrick Ohlsson began for Arabesque. Or perhaps “Volume 1” implies that the pianist is starting a new cycle from scratch? In any event, I’m immediately struck by the warm, singing sonority of the Hamburg Steinway Ohlsson utilizes for this recording. Certainly the instrument befits the pianist’s spacious, sensitive, and keenly detailed reading of the big, early E-flat Op. 7 sonata. To be certain, other artists better project the first movement’s rollicking brio and unsettling syncopations (Schnabel, Kempff, Hungerford), but at least Ohlsson conveys a sense of fluidity far removed from Barenboim or Michelangeli’s finicky protraction. I wish Ohlsson would have let go more and really shoved the Op. 78 finale’s humor and quirky minor-to-major-key juxtapositions in your face, in the manner of Schnabel or Gould.
In Op. 101 Ohlsson responds best to the first and third movements’ lyrical repose and makes the difficult fugal finale seem effortless. But for all of the pianist’s scrupulous voice leading, he downplays the second-movement march’s stressful angularity. The CD booklet lists two further Ohlsson/Beethoven volumes, releases we can all look forward to hearing.
