Ornstein: Piano Sonatas

The three works in common to both discs are Suicide in an Airplane, Danse sauvage and Impressions de la Tamise, all ferociously dissonant works from Ornstein's early Futurist phase. Suicide in an Airplane evokes the sound of an aeroplane circling overhead, then flying off into the distance, while Dans sauvage is a ferocious rhythmic toccata. Impressions is, in contrast, slow and meditative; perhaps an attempt at writing highly dissonant Debussy.

Unfortunately a comparison between Hamelin and Weber in these three works clearly illustrates the main problem with this disc: the performances are rather ordinary. While Weber certainly gets all the notes down (no mean feat in music that is often very difficult to play) Hamelin has so much more litheness, vibrancy and rhythmic articulation that there really is no contest between the two. Nonetheless, for many of the works on this disc, there is no rival, so Weber it will have to be for now.

The other short works on the disc date from the 1960s and 1970s, after Ornstein had endured a long period with little music written. The Tarantelle has something in common with his Futurist works--a vigorous rhythmic essay, if rather less abrasive than his earlier music. In contrast, A Morning in the Woods and A Long Remembered Sorrow are rhapsodic musings of a distinctly Russian temperament. They may have been written in a very old-fashioned style for their time, but that doesn't meant they aren't worth hearing.

The Fourth and Seventh Sonatas date from 64 years apart. The Fourth is from 1924 and represents a drastic retreat from the Futurism of only a few years earlier. It is a four-movement work in a basically Rachmaninovian style; though without the elder composer's genius for melody, it is still an enjoyable 20 minutes. However, the Seventh, from 1988, strikes me as the more impressive of the two. Beginning with a ferocious opening movement that recovers much of the energy of his earlier works without the crudity that sometimes mars them, it then moves through a more melodious--though still dramatic--Andante and ends with a toccata-like Allegro. This is the best of the later pieces I've heard, and if it still lives in the world of Stravinsky, Bartok and Prokofiev, who really cares?

Given the price and the lack of rival performances of the sonatas, this disc can be recommended to pianophiles and lovers of early 20th century music. I hope that the recent revival of Ornstein--even if he did not quite live to see it--will bring other pianists to his work; in particular, I would like to see a major musician tackle the Seventh Sonata.


Leo Ornstein at the Piano   June 10, 2003
Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The cover of this Naxos "American Classics" CD features a painting with the title of this review. The painting is by Leon Kroll (1884-1974) and is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It dates from 1918 and features a young Leo Ornstein, his sensitive and handsome features deeply wrapped in concentration as he plays upon an open grand piano. The left hand is raised in the air with the expectation of a crashing chord to follow.

From about 1910 to the mid-1920's, Leo Ornstein (1892? - 2002) was a charismatic concert pianist. He was known as well for his dissonant, haghly avant-garde piano music. Then, in the mid-1920's, Ornstein abruptly abandoned his performing career and retired from public view. He founded a music school in Philadelphia and continued composing in a variety of styles. Orenstein died in 2002 in Green Bay, Wisconsin at the age of 109 or 110. After his initial sensational career as a pianist, documented in the cover art, Ornstein lived a quiet life.

This is a CD of Ornstein's piano music covering the span of his long life. The works are lovingly performed by Janice Weber, who also writes novels. The thouough liner notes were written by Ornstein's son, Severo Ornstein, who maintains a website devoted to his father's music.

The disc includes three short pieces from Ornstein's early avant-garde Career: Danse Sauvage (1913), Impressions of the Thames (1914), and Suicide in an Airplane (1913). These pieces are highly percussive and dissonant, with heavy chords in the bass (look again at the cover painting) alternating with lighter treble sections. These pieces remain a challenge to hear and, I am sure, to play. They appear to me in the nature of virtuosic encore pieces which the composer-pianist might have played at the conclusion of a concert devoted to recent music and perhaps to some Chopin.

The remainder of the CD is a mix of shorter pieces written later in Orenstein's life and two substantial piano sonatas. The sonatas, in particular, are intriguing, challenging music. Both the sonatas on this disc show a mixture of styles.

The fourth piano sonata dates from 1924 and is in four movements. It is largely lyrical and reflective with a final movement, marked vivo, that builds to a climax in its concluding pages. I found this music heavily influenced by French impressionism. The first movement in fact quotes Debussy's "Au Claire de Lune" several times. There is also a Russian influence derived from the mystical music of Scriabin. This is a well-integrated meditative work.

The Seventh Piano Sonata (1988) is a challenge. It continues to show the strong influence of French impressionism and has lyrical, accessible sections interspersed with complex, modernistic passages. The work is in three movements each of which is in tripartite form with a middle section contrasted to the two outer sections. This music will need repeated hearings. But I was taken with it.

There are three remaining short pieces on the CD. "A Morning in the Woods: (1971) is impressionistic and plangent with the sound of falling leaves. "A Long Remembered Sorrow" (1964) is a romantic work tinged with melancholy which again reaches its climax in the concluding moments. The "Tarantelle" (1960) is a running, shimmering quick piece with a quiet middle section. In this Tarantelle, I thought again of encore music.

Some listeners will find this CD forbidding. But one of the joys of music lies in the delight in finding little-known composers who speak to one. I found Ornstein such a composer. His long life showed composition and creativity in both modernistic and traditional forms. It was a life devoted to the art of music.


ignore the negative reviews   April 3, 2003
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

this is an excellent cd. very interesting and unique. some tracks are very "atonal" sounding while many others are strangely beautiful. highly recommended.


Great compositions, ignore negative reviews   March 25, 2003
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is unrivaled virtuosity, dissonant and strange. Highly recommended