Artists: Mark Anderson
Recording details:
“Mark Anderson brings a compelling grandeur and eloquent fervour to Copland’s imposing Sonata of 1939-41 (apparently Leonard Bernstein’s favourite work), achieving a splendid concentration and unforced gravitas in the riveting concluding Andante sostenuto in particular. …the sound is eminently truthful and the audience impeccably behaved (and, I should add, rightly appreciative)”— ANDREW ACHENBACH, GRAMOPHONE
“Mark Anderson plays Copland to the manner born. His granitic sonority, propulsive rhythm, and lyrical reserve are exactly what this music needs, from the wistful Four Piano Blues, to the terse grandeur characterizing the Sonata’s outer movements. Anderson’s Gershwin, though, is another story. He fusses and musses with the rhythms to the point where the composer’s trademark syncopations hardly register on the “swing” scale. As a result, the phrasing and accentuation of the tunes are thrown askew. Try to sing along with Anderson, and you’re guaranteed to have a hard time. Stick with Richard Rodney Bennett or Dick Hyman for the Songbook, and Earl Wild’s debonair Preludes. Nimbus’ soft-focus, resonant sonics will not appeal to all listeners, but Mark Anderson’s virile Copland holds its own with Leo Smit’s composer-supervised survey of the piano music.” — JED DISTLER, CLASSICS TODAY (.COM)
Nimbus Records, 1999