New recordings of Hindemith’s 1942 contrapuntal keyboard tour-de-force Ludus Tonalis are few and far between, and they tend not to stay in print. Great recordings are even fewer and farther between. Ideally, the performer should elevate the fugues beyond their seemingly doctrinaire surface and characterize the interludes with as much variety as they deserve, without violating the text. From a technical standpoint, Boris Berezovsky cannot be faulted, and he avoids the willful exaggerations of Ollie Mustonen’s controversial though admittedly exciting Decca recording (long out of print).
His world-class virtuosity particularly shines in the fourth and eighth Interludiums, where the rapid legato figurations elegantly and evenly fly. He chooses tempos for the slower, more transparent fugues (like No. 6) that are measured enough to communicate contemplative, lyrical repose yet never drag their feet. In Interludium nine Berezovsky’s dulcet left-hand chords provide gorgeous support for the curvaceous espressivo right-hand melody lines. At times, though, I’d like to hear more energy, incisive articulation, and rhythmic swagger (the march movements for instance), plus more abandon and fantasy in the Praeludium and Postludium that bookend the piece.
The rhythms of 1920s jazz and gray, gnarly Teutonic dissonances collide in the Suite “1922”, which Berezovsky’s fingers relish with glee. My only half-quibble concerns the pianist’s rather typewriterish flattening out of the Ragtime finale’s syncopations that John McCabe treats more idiomatically. It’s probably a toss-up between the Berezovsky and McCabe Ludus Tonalis/Suite “1922” couplings, but for me, two historic versions eclipse all modern competition (I say this without having heard Joyce Hatto’s traversal on Concert Artist). One features pianist Nella Maissa in a 1958 Portuguese broadcast (and you can read my rave review by typing Q2743 in Search Reviews); the other is a 1965 Philips recording by Estonian pianist Kabi Laretei, who coached the work with Hindemith. Her fervent, committed, technically dazzling interpretation never has appeared on CD, and it deserves reissue.
