Many months lapsed between the first two installments in Martin Roscoe’s Szymanowski cycle for Naxos and the present volume. But the wait was worth it. Roscoe’s full-bodied sonority and impeccable technique lovingly serve Szymanowski’s kaleidoscopic, richly communicative keyboard idiom. The pianist’s legato phrasing is primarily obtained through finger power and arm weight, with discreet help from the sustain pedal. By contrast, Martin Jones (who recorded Szymanowski’s complete piano music for Nimbus) uses more pedal to achieve a little more variety in texture, articulation, and dynamics. Yet both pianists complement each other. Roscoe’s grand treatment of the 13th through 16th Op. 50 Mazurkas points up the music’s sensual textures and rustic melodicism in a way that differs from Jones’ quirkier, equally convincing readings. Choosing between the pianists’ masterful traversals of the Op. 33 Etudes is a matter of apples versus oranges. While neither pianist quite matches Raymond Clarke’s sizzling account of the C-sharp minor Prelude and Fugue (Athene), Roscoe edges out Jones with a more incisive fugal finale to the early C minor sonata. A marvelous disc.
