Pianist Fujiko Hemming has amassed a cult following in her native Japan, less for her actual playing, perhaps, than for her unconventional life story and remarkable recovery from the onset of total deafness. Her solo CDs now have gained U.S. distribution via the Domo Classics label.
Hemming’s discs largely encompass short works from Classical Romantic Piano Music’s Top 100 playlist. In fact, the title selection of Hemming’s 1999 debut release, Liszt’s La Campanella, seems to have become her signature piece over the years. Not that she plays it particularly well; regardless of her beautiful tone, Hemming is cautious throughout and broaches the music’s difficulties gingerly. The same goes for her ambling, nerveless Liszt Second Rhapsody.
However, the relatively modest demands characterizing the remaining Liszt works find Hemming operating more comfortably, while the Chopin selections provide opportunity for the pianist to display sensitive phrasing within a dynamic range best described as “mezzo-everything”. Imagine a less cultivated replica of the lyrical deliberation that figures in Jorge Bolet’s later Decca recordings and you’ll get the gist of Hemming’s artistry.
I hope that Domo Classics’ minimum packaging policy (no booklet annotations, plastic sleeve in lieu of a jewel box) extends only to reviewer’s copies and not to the final product.
