It’s entirely possible that Antonín Reicha’s L’Art de varier Op. 57 from 1804 comprises the most ambitious set of keyboard variations written between Bach’s Goldbergs and Beethoven’s Diabellis. The theme’s pungent lyricism anticipates Schumann’s style, with each subsequent movement unfolding in a variety of contrapuntal textures. Reicha’s game plan has little in common with large-scale architecture and visionary drama in the manner of late Beethoven. Instead, Reicha approaches variation technique the way a caterer lays out a big buffet table. What’s more, Reicha indicates few dynamic and expressive instructions, and leaves the performer free to decide on tempos. In general Mauro Masala picks speeds that are well suited to each variation’s overall mood, although his rubatos tend to fall into predictable patterns and prevent us from experiencing a sense of cumulative impact from one variation to the next. I also could imagine a suaver dispatch of the score’s unforgiving double-note passages and zany runs. Let’s hope, however, that this recording generates more than just my own interest in a shockingly neglected and utterly fascinating piece.
