Josep Colom - B Minor Sonatas (2020) [Hi-Res]

Chopin wrote his Sonata in B minor, op.58 in 1844, the year in which his father died. Like its predecessor, the Sonata in B flat minor, op.35, it is cast in four movements (Allegro maestoso, Scherzo: Molto vivace, Largo and Finale: Presto non tanto), but its structure is rather more conventional and conforms more closely with the canons of the genre than the latter, probably to silence the criticisms sparked by Op.35. As is so often the case in Chopin’s music, moments of heroic writing alternate here with others that are suffused with an Italianate lyricism (listen, for example to the second thematic block of the opening movement or the Largo, which displays many affinities with the composer’s Nocturnes), as well as with numerous filigree passages. The Finale is built on an ostinato which many have interpreted as an ominous galloping, and which has echoes of the last movement of Beethoven’s Sonata, op.31 no.2. Presenting the performer with substantial technical and interpretative challenges, this is one of the finest examples of Chopin’s treatment of large-scale form. ...

Josep Colom’s brings out a fresh and poetic view on two of peaks of the piano repertoire: Chopin and Liszt B minor Piano Sonatas. Heroic writing alternate with Italianate lyricism in Chopin’s Op. 58, while Liszt only piano sonata is one of the greatest achievements in its genre, if not the greatest of all. Chopin’s Nocturnes op. 62 and Liszt’s late work Unstern! – Sinistre are also included in this stunning album, passionately performed by one of the most distinguished pianists of his generation.