Benjamin Grosvenor – Homages (2016) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, 24 years old when this album appeared in 2016, has made a splash with his seemingly effortless technical mastery and his ability to put across a feeling of suppressed energy. There are many technical difficulties in these Romantic showpieces, but Grosvenor lets them roll off his fingers without raising the temperature much until the end, in the Liszt Tarantella from the Venezia e Napoli (Venice and Naples) set of Années de pèlerinage. It’s an impressive display of control, said to be matched by considerable charisma in live performance. The program, which might have been played a century ago, is almost refreshing for that reason, but it’s not totally coherent: the first three “Homages” are to Bach, while the last two are not homages to a person, but to cities, and to a pair of them at that. Still, the individual pieces work well on their own terms. César Franck’s Prélude, Choral, et Fugue, FWV 21, benefits greatly from Grosvenor’s ability to suggest currents of passion beneath the surface, and the Mendelssohn set of Six Preludes and Fugues, Op. 35, are sharply characterized and infused with an unusual degree of contrast for the collection, which often suffers from over-academic performances. This release showcases a young pianist with the potential to become a star in the time-honored Romantic virtuoso mold.

Tracklist

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
1 Chaconne in D Minor 14:06

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
2 1. Prelude, MWV U116 02:14
3 2. Fugue, MWV U66 06:50
4 1. Prelude, MWV U126 03:27
5 2. Fugue, MWV U106 03:16

César Franck (1822-1890)
6 Prélude: Moderato 04:58
7 Choral: Poco più lento 06:20
8 Fugue: Tempo I 07:10

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
9 Barcarolle in F Sharp Major, Op.6008:29
10 1. Gondoliera 05:26
11 2. Canzone 03:13
12 3. Tarantella 09:12

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
13 1. Prélude 03:12
14 2. Fugue 03:46
15 3. Forlane 06:24
16 4. Rigaudon 03:08
17 5. Menuet 05:16
18 6. Toccata 03:49

Personnel
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano

Download:

mqs.link_BenjaminGrsvenrHmages20162496Qbuz.part1.rar
mqs.link_BenjaminGrsvenrHmages20162496Qbuz.part2.rar