Nikolai Demidenko’s propensity for tinkering with composers’ dynamics and phrasings can provoke and convince as much as they can baffle and displease. This Beethoven disc is a case in point. The pianist rounds off Op. 78’s first movement to the point where the music’s lyric simplicity and basic rhythm disintegrate. It contrasts to his sharply pointed, relatively direct Finale, although the dynamic contrasts are not so pronounced as I’d like them to be.
Two pianists also seem to be at work in the Diabelli Variations. Pianist One imbues the score with genuine imagination and insight. Note, for example, Variation 2’s subtle interplay between the hands, Variation 5’s deliciously judged repeated-note phrases, the melodic impetus gained by Demidenko’s taking Variation 14’s double-dotted rhythms more freely than usual, and the brilliant virtuosity he brings to Variation 23’s “banging and scampering”.
Pianist Two perverts for the sake of perversion. How else can you explain the mincing staccato in place of the legato Beethoven indicates in Variation 8, the absurdly prolonged trill announcing Variation 16, or the final minuet pulled about like taffy? Even if Pianist One dominated, this disc would be difficult to recommend on sonic grounds alone. The engineering is uncomfortably distant and murky, not unlike Nimbus’ infamous “ambisonic” productions. Blame Demidenko at least 50 percent; he’s credited as co-producer.
