It's not often that one can take full measure of a wide swath of a concert artist's career, but Deutsche Grammophon affords just that opportunity with its release "Pogorelich - Complete Recordings." Over the course of 14 CDs, the set follows the brilliant career thus far of Croatian concert pianist Ivo Pogorelich, now 60 years young. Out There took the opportunity to dive deep into the recordings side of his artistic career, from 1981-95. We worked our way through the 14 discs twice, then went back to savor particular favorites.
CD 1: Frederic Chopin, Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, and six other pieces. When Pogorelich was dismissed as "eccentric" at the 1980 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, piano giant Martha Argerich resigned from the jury, insisting, "He's a genius!" DG gave him a recording contract.
Already in his first recording you can hear his original way with Chopin, all the hallmarks of a "musical revolutionary." Liner notes point out his "magnificent disregard for Chopin's dynamic markings." No matter, you can tell he has this music in his fingers and bones.
CD 2: Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor; Robert Schumann, Symphonic Etudes (in the Form of Variations), Toccata in C Major. The youthful rebel, shown on CD covers wearing jeans and trainers like the moody member of a boy band, has his way with some classic greats.
CD 3: Chopin, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2, Polonaise in F sharp minor; Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado. Here we can hear Pogorelich's way of working with a great symphony orchestra. He leaves none of his fingerprints behind, and shows he can still play well with others.
CD 4: Maurice Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit; Serge Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 6 in A Major. The Prokofiev, a personal favorite of OT's, can turn brutal and banal in the wrong hands (it was composed in 1940), but IP is able to tame it without neutering it.
CD 5: Peter Tchaikovsky, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in B flat minor; London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado. In his youth, Pogorelich studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, and that training is clearly the backbone of his Russian repertoire.
CD 6: Johann Sebastian Bach, English Suite No. 2 in A minor, English Suite No. 3 in G minor. We first "stopped" in our initial traversal of the discs here, at the two English Suites that one mightn't think are a perfect fit for this pianist's temperament. But Pogorelich evinces precisely the light touch and precision that a fully engaged reading of Bach requires.
CD 7: Chopin, 24 Preludes. This is IP's most famous Chopin recording, one where he draws out the colors and textures of the Preludes as if by second nature. Liner notes admit he "takes surprising liberties with articulatory details," but it doesn't matter: the spirit of the great piano composer is here.
CD 8: Franz Liszt, Piano Sonata in B minor; Alexander Scriabin, Piano Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor, Op. 19, "Sonata Fantasy." His most important teacher was three times removed from a pupil of Liszt's. Clearly, he can do virtuoso.
CD 9: Joseph Haydn, Piano Sonata in A flat Major, Piano Sonata in D Major.
CD 10: Domenico Scarlatti, 15 Sonatas. Pogorelich is one of the very rare pianists who could go up against Vladimir Horowitz in these Scarlatti.
CD 11: Johannes Brahms, Capriccio in F sharp minor, Intermezzo in A Major, Rhapsodies, Intermezzi.
CD 12: Modest Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition; Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales. Again, IP takes some liberties with the Mussorgsky score, but proves his mettle with the Russian classic.
CD 13: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Fantasia for Piano in D minor, Piano Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major.
CD 14: Chopin, 4 Scherzos. Not surprisingly, IP's DG recording career begins and ends with his special sense for Chopin.
After listening to the 14 discs twice through, to which pieces did we return just for the joy of hearing them again? Chopin throughout, certainly, but also the Ravel "Gaspard," the Prokofiev Sonata, the Bach Suites, a few Scarlatti Sonatas, surprising Brahms, and those Pictures from Mussorgsky's Exhibition. Ivo Pogorelich is no longer a rebel boy, he's a man with a famous career. His pianism stirs our heart, and makes our fingers twitch.
Film Finale
Frameline 42, the fabulous San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival, came to a rollicking good finale with the closing-night film "Studio 54" (director Matt Tyrnauer), the doc about the famous 1970s NYC disco. Yes, the coke-fueled, all-night partiers included Liza Minnelli, Cher, Grace Jones and Elton John, but the doc goes into the whole sordid downfall of the club, and the IRS plight of club owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. The closing-night afterparty transpired at swank SoMa nightclub Oasis, a pretty happening place all these years, and so many disco balls, later!
Thanks to all of the writers, photographers, film publicists and Frameline staff who helped with our coverage, these last few weeks, of Frameline 42. Thanks as well to everyone who took the time to tell us they enjoy our film coverage year-round.