New Naida Cole
Posted by: Todd A on 25 May 2003
Despite my previously stated reservations about how Ms. Cole’s newest CD is being marketed, I decided to buy the new disc to hear if she has developed on the promise of her debut disc. I am glad to report that she has. (And despite my reservations about the marketing, I confess that I rather enjoy looking at her.)
The disc is comprised of three “connected” works: Ravel’s Miroirs, Bartok’s Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, and Liszt’s Sonata. (The booklet attempts to connect the works, however tenuously.)
As her debut disc demonstrated, Ms. Cole has a fine grasp of Gallic repertoire. This go-round confirms that. Cole’s technical command of Miroirs rivals anyone’s, and her traversal of Une Barque sur l’ocean and Alborada del gracioso are wonders to listen to. A Great Interpretation? Not quite. Of course, I’ve been listening to Gieseking, Casadesus, and Samson Francois in this repertoire lately, so I’m hardly damning her accomplishment. I suppose one may occasionally get the sense that part of this recording is merely to show off her abilities, but even if that is the case, this is a good performance.
Bartok’s Improvisations are underappreciated little gems. No, they are not even Bartok’s best piano works, let alone unquestioned masterpieces, but Cole does show them to be delightful works that deserve at least occasional attention. The studio set does not quite match up to her live playing – I heard her play these in a recital relay from Chamber Music New York, or something like that* – but it is still quite fine and makes for a good musical diversion.
The concluding work on the disc is Liszt’s sonata. Here Cole shows just how accomplished her technique really is. She is easily in the same league as any of the talented young pianists out there, from Anderszewski to Kissin to Volodos. At no point does she seem daunted by the demands of the piece. Such command allows her to play the piece in a refreshingly direct manner, shorn of affectation and bloat. Or at least she doesn’t add any extra. The virtuosic passages are dispatched with an ease that is disarming, the main theme relayed without excess. The quieter moments are appropriately delicate, and the fiercer moments fierce. As with the Ravel, this is not the best available (that would be Jorge Bolet’s), but how could one expect it to be. Look at all of the great pianists who have recorded this work. How can anyone match up to that. Perhaps she will rerecord the work in ten or twenty years and add some more insight. For now, this will do.
For me this disc does show Cole to be a talent with great potential. I hope that she moves from mixed programming to a recording devoted to a single composer. Perhaps Schumann. Perhaps Messiaen. (I’ve read nothing but high praise for her public performances of the Vingt Regards.) Who knows. Let’s hope that UMG does not wait two more years before recording her again. Sound is very good if perhaps a little too close and dry.
* In the same recital, she anchored the Schumann Piano Quintet. I cannot remember the quartet she worked with, but the performance was smokin’. Maybe she’ll do a bit of chamber music recording. That would be a great thing.
The disc is comprised of three “connected” works: Ravel’s Miroirs, Bartok’s Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, and Liszt’s Sonata. (The booklet attempts to connect the works, however tenuously.)
As her debut disc demonstrated, Ms. Cole has a fine grasp of Gallic repertoire. This go-round confirms that. Cole’s technical command of Miroirs rivals anyone’s, and her traversal of Une Barque sur l’ocean and Alborada del gracioso are wonders to listen to. A Great Interpretation? Not quite. Of course, I’ve been listening to Gieseking, Casadesus, and Samson Francois in this repertoire lately, so I’m hardly damning her accomplishment. I suppose one may occasionally get the sense that part of this recording is merely to show off her abilities, but even if that is the case, this is a good performance.
Bartok’s Improvisations are underappreciated little gems. No, they are not even Bartok’s best piano works, let alone unquestioned masterpieces, but Cole does show them to be delightful works that deserve at least occasional attention. The studio set does not quite match up to her live playing – I heard her play these in a recital relay from Chamber Music New York, or something like that* – but it is still quite fine and makes for a good musical diversion.
The concluding work on the disc is Liszt’s sonata. Here Cole shows just how accomplished her technique really is. She is easily in the same league as any of the talented young pianists out there, from Anderszewski to Kissin to Volodos. At no point does she seem daunted by the demands of the piece. Such command allows her to play the piece in a refreshingly direct manner, shorn of affectation and bloat. Or at least she doesn’t add any extra. The virtuosic passages are dispatched with an ease that is disarming, the main theme relayed without excess. The quieter moments are appropriately delicate, and the fiercer moments fierce. As with the Ravel, this is not the best available (that would be Jorge Bolet’s), but how could one expect it to be. Look at all of the great pianists who have recorded this work. How can anyone match up to that. Perhaps she will rerecord the work in ten or twenty years and add some more insight. For now, this will do.
For me this disc does show Cole to be a talent with great potential. I hope that she moves from mixed programming to a recording devoted to a single composer. Perhaps Schumann. Perhaps Messiaen. (I’ve read nothing but high praise for her public performances of the Vingt Regards.) Who knows. Let’s hope that UMG does not wait two more years before recording her again. Sound is very good if perhaps a little too close and dry.
* In the same recital, she anchored the Schumann Piano Quintet. I cannot remember the quartet she worked with, but the performance was smokin’. Maybe she’ll do a bit of chamber music recording. That would be a great thing.