George Copeland (1882-1971) is known among historic piano record collectors for his interpretations of French and Spanish music and for his friendship with Debussy. The private recordings issued here, in addition to Copeland’s specialties, include two of the pianist’s rare forays into German music, preserved in mediocre, fluttery sound. His prosaic performance of Mozart’s K. 475 C minor Fantasy generates little note-to-note tension or inner drama in its choppy phrasing and technical gaucheries (chords that are not quite toegther, sluggish dotted rhythms, and uneven double notes, to name a few). Likewise the rhythmic verve and passionate drive we normally expect from Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien are nowhere in sight via Copeland’s clunky, rudderless pianism.
The Debussy selections are not especially memorable, but at least they bark up the right stylistic tree, notably in the Suite Bergamasque. Aside from his tendency to rush toward the ends of certain bars, I’m convinced by Copeland’s masculine, firmly etched Prelude and a Clair de lune played strictly in tempo, with no heaves or sighs. By the middle of Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (from Images Book II), Copeland’s sonority opens up to lovely, luminous effect. The pianist plows through Danse de Puck without a trace of character or whimsy, and the Little Shepherd’s plaintive ditty sags rather than lilts. Murky sound and limited bandwith hinder whatever nuances you can gleam from Hommage à Rameau, Feuilles Mortes, and the Prelude from Pour le Piano.
Copeland plays the third Satie Gymnopédie with a straightforward, square approach, and there’s no rhythmic snap to Albeniz’s Seguidillas, mainly because Copeland doesn’t sufficiently distinguish the melodic foreground from the accompanimental background, nor does he spruce up the basic pulse with idiomatic accents. In sum, although this release is scattered with nice moments, it offers a listening experience that’s akin to being trapped in a musty room at a family gathering with a well-educated but boring relative.
