For the latest installment in this period-instrument cycle-in-progress featuring the Beethoven symphonies in Franz Liszt’s solo-piano transcriptions, Yury Martynov uses a rare, recently restored concert model 1867 Blüthner. In addition to its distinct registral characteristics, I also assume that its keyboard action is light and responsive, judging from Martynov’s effortless dispatch of the Eighth symphony finale’s all-but-impossible repeated notes.
As a transcriber Liszt knew how to transform non-pianistic orchestral effects into idiomatic and logical keyboard writing, and had a sixth sense for what to include and what to leave out. That doesn’t make his Beethoven arrangements any less challenging to execute, yet Martynov’s technique knows no difficulties. Sometimes Martynov’s distortions of phrase, tempo modification, and accents are extreme to the point of mannerism: the “Eroica” Allegro con brio’s swooning second subject; No. 8’s lurching speed-ups and slow-downs in the first movement; the mincing accentuations in the Menuetto.
Yet the playing never lacks continuity or kinetic momentum. In fact, the “Eroica” inner movements prove relatively disciplined from a metric standpoint, as the Scherzo’s firmly sprung soft detached chords and cross-rhythmic syncopations bear out. And although the lyrical character of No. 8’s three-note motive (similar to the one that opens the Rondo of Schubert’s G major D. 894 sonata) and clipped woodwind chords is softened through Martynov’s rhapsodizing, the music’s sardonic undertones still are apparent. The bottom line is that Martynov’s formidable keyboard command and strong musical personality draw you in and compel you to listen. I await this cycle’s remaining volumes with curiosity and anticipation.
