Arthur Rubinstein characterized Brahms’ late keyboard works as “chamber music for the piano”, and the description aptly encapsulates Janácek’s solo piano output. It never sounds “difficult” in the way Liszt or Ravel often does, yet nothing less than a complete virtuoso technique is required for a performer to successfully navigate and enliven Janácek’s volatile dynamic and textural shifts. Charles Owen is such a pianist, and it says a lot that you can mention his secure, idiomatic, and insightful interpretations in the same breath as the reference Rudolf Firkusny and András Schiff cycles. Some listeners might complain that Owen makes too much of the staccato outbursts at the Sonata’s outset, or effects transitions with more rubato than necessary; but I positively respond to his brawny, impassioned playing here. He also takes the Adagio at a faster-than-traditional clip, matching Ivan Moravec’s conception if not his prismatic touch.
The vignettes comprising the two On an Overgrown Path books benefit from Owen’s nimble articulation and generally unwavering basic pulse. He is less prone to sing out inner voices in the manner of Schiff’s slightly slower, more lyrically oriented readings. In The Mist’s four movements also are sharply characterized–most notably in Owen’s powerful delivery of the final Presto’s quirky rhetoric and dynamic extremes. Somm’s close-up, robust sonics convey memorable presence and impact. Recommended.
