Lívia Rév seems to have been all but forgotten among piano collectors ever since the British Saga label released her highly regarded Debussy cycle in the late 1970s. This live concert recorded July 11, 2000 during the International Piano Festival at Williams reveals the veteran pianist’s technique less assured than in her prime. Yet her warm, luscious sonority remains intact as ever, and so does her huge, imposing dynamic range. Her measured, craggy, yet steady tempos in the Beethoven sonata fully suggest the music’s combative qualities in the outer movements. Similar comments characterize the Chopin Fantasy.
The Schubert sonata’s sprawling first movement unfolds with spacious, sustained grandeur. Unfortunately, the same sonata’s Menuetto and Allegretto come off sounding clunky and heavy handed, with no hint of the nimble, dance-like sensibility and split-second voicings distinguishing Volodos’ magnificent recent studio effort. The sonics are excellent for archival live engineering, even if they don’t equal the best of today’s state-of-the-art piano recordings.
