Pianist
Piers Lane
is known more for innovative programming and for his indefatigable contributions to
Hyperion
's giant Romantic Piano Concertos series than for Russian-style virtuosity, and seeing the title
Russian Variations
, one might expect virtuosity. As it happens, his talents are well-matched to the repertory here, which isn't terribly common. There is one famous virtuoso work,
Rachmaninov
's
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22
, to conclude the program, and here,
Lane
is competent. There is plenty in the run-up, however, that is of great interest, and that probably propelled the album onto classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2024. Composer
John Field
is here not only because his
opening set of variations
is based on a Russian folksong but also because he lived in Russia for many years. It is a lively work that makes a nice change from the
Field
nocturnes that are usually heard.
Glazunov
Theme and Variations, Op. 72
, are virtuosic only in spots; much of the work consists of subtle variations in register based on the original theme, and
handles these well. Most interesting of all are the
Six Pieces, Op. 21
, of
Tchaikovsky
. These works are often played singly and have been since
wrote them, but heard as a group, as they rarely are, they are nothing less than a set of variations in which a theme is put through the guises of fugue, impromptu, funeral march, mazurka, and scherzo. Perhaps
allowed the independent performance for financial reasons, but the fact remains that the structure of the six pieces together as a variation set is unique.
once again balances the various factors at work here nicely, and in general, listeners to this album will discover a side of Russian music that they may not have known existed. ~ James Manheim