Freddy Kempf, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton – Prokofiev: Piano Concertos (2010) {SACD ISO + FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz}

Whatever one might call it – virtuosity, charisma, panache, or just plain guts – pianist Freddy Kempf certainly has it. Kempf has successfully deployed his gifts in some of the most difficult works in the piano repertoire in a consistently impressive series of discs for BIS. He’s taken on Bach partitas, Beethoven sonatas, Chopin etudes, and Rachmaninov preludes, and he’s brought them to dizzying heights where the air is thin and only the greatest pianists can breathe. But while there’s no doubt Kempf is bringing his best qualities to bear on this disc of Prokofiev’s Second and Third piano concertos and his Second Piano Sonata, it is nowhere nearly as successful as his earlier recordings. Perhaps this is because, for all his blazing virtuosity, Kempf tends to lean toward the light and lyrical in Prokofiev, and this approach doesn’t always fit with the music. It works brilliantly in the body of the Third Concerto’s opening Allegro and in much of the same work’s closing Allegro ma non troppo, where Kempf’s fleet fingers and racing tempos carry all before them. But in the Third’s central theme and variations, and in most of the Second’s opening Allegretto and closing Allegro tempestoso, Kempf sounds oddly underpowered, as if he lacked the strength to convey the steel and iron of the music. That surely cannot be the case for a pianist who has turned in a performance of “The Great Gate of Kiev” from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition that could, if aimed in the right direction, reduce Gibraltar to pebbles. Whatever the cause, this disc is somewhat disappointing, coming from such a gifted player. Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic are more than adequate, but not much more, as accompanists. BIS’ super audio sound seems to surround and even envelop the listener.

Tracklist:
01. Piano Concerto No.2: I. Andantino
02. Piano Concerto No.2: II. Scherzo
03. Piano Concerto No.2: III. Intermezzo
04. Piano Concerto No.2: IV. Finale
05. Piano Sonata No. 2: I. Allegro
06. Piano Sonata No. 2: II. Scherzo
07. Piano Sonata No. 2: III. Andante
08. Piano Sonata No. 2: IV. Vivace
09. Piano Concerto No. 3: I. Andante
10. Piano Concerto No. 3: II. Tema con variazioni
11. Piano Concerto No. 3: III. Allegro ma non troppo

Produced by Jens Braun. Sound Engineers: Jens Braun (Sonata); Thore Brinkmann (Concertos)
Recorded in July 2008 at Nybrokajen 11 (the former Academy of Music), Stockholm, Sweden (Sonata)
and August 2008 at the Grieg Hall, Bergen, Norway (Concertos)

Freddy Kempf – piano
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Conducted by Andrew Litton.

SACD ISO

mqs.link_FreddyKempfBergenPAndrewLittnPrkfiev.PianCncerts2010SACDIS.part1.rar
mqs.link_FreddyKempfBergenPAndrewLittnPrkfiev.PianCncerts2010SACDIS.part2.rar
mqs.link_FreddyKempfBergenPAndrewLittnPrkfiev.PianCncerts2010SACDIS.part3.rar
mqs.link_FreddyKempfBergenPAndrewLittnPrkfiev.PianCncerts2010SACDIS.part4.rar

FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz

mqs.link_FreddyKempfBergenPAndrewLittnPrkfiev.PianCncerts2010FLACStere2488.2.part1.rar
mqs.link_FreddyKempfBergenPAndrewLittnPrkfiev.PianCncerts2010FLACStere2488.2.part2.rar