The subtle, intimately scaled sonority we usually associate with Wilhelm Kempff’s commercial recordings gains amplitude, dynamism, and sheer brawn in this previously unreleased 1958 Salzburg recital. Maybe it’s the result of a closely miked piano in a resonant venue–but the main question for piano mavens is how these live performances compare with Kempff’s studio versions of the same works. In a nutshell, the pianist’s mono Schumann C major Fantasy for Deutsche Grammophon largely mirrors this live version’s headlong fervency in the first two movements, but to cleaner and more accurate effect. You only need to A/B the first movement’s swirling 16th-note patterns or the second movement’s obsessive dotted rhythms to perceive how the benefits of tape splicing do not compromise the pianist’s deep feeling for the music’s paragraphical flow. Kempff finds his form, however, as he relaxes into the concluding slow movement’s spacious lyrical lines. I still lean toward Kempff’s stereo remake (also on DG), which is more sedate and less energetic on the surface but richer in nuance and local detail.
Numerous Kempffian felicities distinguish Beethoven’s Op. 126 Bagatelles: No. 1’s ravishing trills and pearly scales; No. 3’s tension-filled bass lines; No. 4’s gruff ferocity. While an element of caution hovers over Kempff’s 1958 studio Brahms F minor Sonata, the pianist’s acute polyphonic awareness reveals textural dimensions untapped by many other pianists. Here Kempff piles into the thorny odd-numbered movements with more abandon–and a higher quotient of wrong notes (the Finale’s coda is frankly a mess). The slow movements, though, are warmer and more communicative in tone through Kempff’s inspired and purposeful inflections of phrase. In sum, an uneven recital, but one that offers enough memorable moments for Kempff fans to savor.
