Why do artists need to impose a thematic concept upon a program that easily stands on its own? This disc is a case in point. Its program notes offer a vague justification for the recital’s incongruous title–“Escaping”–and bizarre cover art (a bicycle in the middle of a field). However, Davide Cabassi’s sensitive, cultivated, and forthright musicianship carries the day.
Excellent declamation and a lively, incisive closing fugue distinguish the opening Bach selection. His conscientiously detailed, forward moving Beethoven Op. 110 proves equally memorable, notable in the first movement’s uncommonly clear, rapid left-hand patterns and the Fuga’s ecstatic surges.
Following a brisk introductory Aria, the Brahms Handel Variations unfold with tightly integrated tempo relationships between movements and keen attention to Brahms’ frequent rhythmic sleights-of-hand (Variation 3’s syncopated accents emphasized in the “A”-section repeat; Variation 16’s melodic twists and turns; the finale Fugue’s accentuations that seem to float over the barlines).
To be certain, Cabassi can be cool at times, and his pianism does not represent the last word in dynamism and tone color; yet there’s no “escaping” the fact that forethought and integrity distinguish his fine interpretations.
