Remember Dimitris Sgouros? He made a huge splash in the early 1980s when as a teenager he played the Rachmaninov Third Concerto at Carnegie Hall with the National Symphony under Rostropovich, and briefly recorded for EMI. At 32 Sgouros continues to perform and record, but without the international profile and publicity he enjoyed during his prodigy salad days. On the basis of his Schumann and Brahms recital, Sgouros seems to have evolved from a gifted child marvel with amazing artistic potential to a sensitive, musical, and good professional adult pianist.
In Schumann’s sprawling C major Fantasy, for example, his beautifully modulated playing aptly suits the composer’s soaring, lyrical lines and hidden inner voices. At the same time, he lingers over local details to the point of obscuring the music’s larger paragraphs. This is especially so in the second movement, where his nudgings sidetrack the obsessive sweep generated by the march-like dotted rhythms. In the third movement, Sgouros’ frequent broadening of tempo at phrase endings becomes increasingly predictable as they occur. In sum, if you like your Schumann C major Fantasy to be rhapsodic and impulsive, Evgeny Kissin’s volatile and sophisticated pianism proves more engaging in the long run.
The Brahms F minor is a serviceable recording in the face of numerous great ones past and present. The outer movements’ big block chords, knotty octaves, and fiery runs sound too careful–even labored–in Sgouros’ hands, especially when compared to the effortless aplomb, youthful characterization, and sheer athleticism you get from Rubinstein, Hough, and Katchen. Sgouros also slows down some of the Scherzo’s right-hand scales (to accommodate his hands?) where others easily take them in tempo, as Brahms indicates. His slow movement truly sings, but without Arrau’s regal sonority and spiritual depth. Sgouros, incidentally, eschews the first-movement exposition repeat. Knowing the vivacity and vigor of Sgouros’ best teenage efforts (his solo Liszt disc, the Rachmaninov Third), perhaps I expect too much from his adult counterpart. But if you’re going to make a comeback, you’ve got to come back better.
