Capriccio clearly appreciate that the largely German-trained Korean pianist Franziska Lee is an artist worth nurturing. It is also evident that Franziska Lee has a particular penchant for twentieth century repertoire. Following a well-received recording of French composers, the present release sees her attention turned to five English composers. The next release will focus on Italian composers including Gian Francesco Malipiero, Luciano Berio, Luigi Dallapiccola, Bruno Bettinelli and Ildebrando Pizzetti. Certainly, this format of ‘national’ repertoire collections is distinctive. It has the potential to keep going as long as Lee has the imagination and determination to forego mainstream repertoire in favour of interesting and less travelled paths.
Someone usually very knowledgeable about music once asked me
– somewhat tongue in cheek, I hope! – “Is there such a thing as English music after
Purcell?” The answer, of course, is yes. Were I asked to produce a single
recording to illustrate the point, then Franziska Lee’s release would do the
job admirably. Even today in the UK, the keyboard music of the composers
included here is too little appreciated and played.
Michael Tippett’s Sonata no.1, in the revised 1942 version of the 1935-37 composition, is played straight, without any hint of anachronism. Tippett, being Tippett, of course takes the listener on a journey that has some serious things to say. At times perhaps there might have greater economy of expression, particularly in the first movement’s flights of fancy, but it is good this was not achieved at the expense of an infusion of jazz and blues influences. Franziska Lee traverses the range of expressions easily and clearly delights in the opportunities this affords her to show her mettle. But is it a sonata I will return to often? I am not so sure I will – it just lacks enough focus to make it a really compelling experience in performance.
Arnold Bax’s single-movement Sonata no.1 in F sharp minor, if anything, has Lee taking things to another level. Her playing takes Bax’s instruction of “Not too fast and very decisive in rhythm” at its word. I have long enjoyed Ashley Wass’ playing of Bax’s piano output (Naxos), but in this sonata Lee puts up a creditable challenge, even if Wass wins the head-to-head by a whisker, as his interpretation sounds just a little more spontaneous.
There’s more humour in Benjamin Britten’s Holiday Diary, 1934, than is often the case in his music. It is a characteristic that Lee emphasises wilfully. Overtly programmatic in character, Lee’s playing captures they boyish fun in these early vignettes that take you to the Suffolk coastline.
John Ireland’s Ballad of London Nights paints the scene of a rather bawdy and occasionally discordant nocturnal stroll through England’s smog-filled capital, taking the listener from a Soho club to the rather more refined environs of Chelsea. That we have this score at all is down to a lucky find in a desk drawer after Ireland’s death. Franziska Lee’s super-confident realisation of this 7 minute score takes it almost beyond the confines of time and a single instrument, such is the palette of colours that she employs with the deftest of touches.
The middle movement of Frank Bridge’s Three Sketches (1906), Rosemary, is the best known of the three pieces. A passable recording of it is included in Lotusland, an interesting anthology of English piano music, by pianist Kumiko Ida on the Japanese Mittenwald label. Franziska Lee plays all three sketches with moving tenderness. They fully illustrate the romantic air that pervaded Bridge’s writing before he embarked on a more radical and modernistic path.
The recording sound quality is excellent, with the Steingraeber instrument captured faithfully whether in the most delicate passages or in forte. It is a shame that the liner notes do not extend beyond a biography of the pianist in English, German and Korean. Given the repertoire, I suspect that many prospective listeners would find an introduction a useful addition to an otherwise excellent and most recommendable recording. Maybe Capriccio could seek to plug this gap within future releases.
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