These 2008/09 recordings were made in anticipation of Claude Frank’s 85th birthday on December 24, 2010, and testify to the veteran pianist’s seasoned musicianship and remarkably intact technique. Frank always has played Schubert’s final sonata supremely well, and you can forgive the occasionally uneven phrase or split note in light of the pianist’s warm tone and intelligently shaped long lines, especially in the first-movement development section and throughout the slow movement. Frank’s moderate tempo for the Scherzo allows the music its lilting, delicate due, while the finale boasts genuine cumulative urgency and a driving coda that ought to keep younger pianists humble.
The Mozart C major K. 330 sonata sports characterful grace, wit, and spot-on timing. Frank’s bracing and direct treatment of the Mozart A minor Rondo demonstrates how to convey expressive niceties through color and nuance rather than by monkeying around with tempo. Likewise, the Schumann short pieces elicit eloquent, tellingly proportioned artistry.
By and large Frank plays the last three Beethoven sonatas with greater deliberation and lyricism than in his relatively faster RCA studio versions from nearly four decades earlier. The incisive punch and accentuation of yore has given way to more songful phrasing and room to breathe, although Frank’s dynamic range ventures less toward Beethoven’s extremes. This is a memorable release showcasing Claude Frank in authoritative performances of the music he loves best.
