Goldberg Vars/Italian Con in F

Speaking of which, I once wrecked a race car while listening to a tape I made of Kipnis' Italian Variations. I recall saying afterward that I couldn't have picked a better piece of music for which to flip a car end-over-end. Had it been played by someone else, I may have never remembered which album I was playing at the time. Sometimes it's good to sit up straight and pluck strings, sometimes it's good to grind metal.

This CD was originally mutliple vinyl LP's, of which I own all. I've also heard much of these same works by Gustav Leonhardt, Trevor Pinnock, Christopher Hogwood and several others. Igor does certainly put his own spin on virtually everything he plays, especially in hierarchies of tempo and phrasing. You can also hear at times his massive hands pounding his steel-framed harpsichords. Steel? Yes. His metal harpsichords ring like bells (as harpsichords shouldn't), but at least they aren't pianos. It's not such a big deal. It actually adds new strength of timbre at times that gives certain pieces a "boost."

You have to understand the man. For decades he toured the USA, loading his two Robinette-Rutkowski harpsichords into his Volkswagen Microbus. Maybe that explains the steel. Maybe Igor just likes a louder harpsichord with stronger bass tones and lingering high-pitch reverb. Igor plays for fun. He's a clever speaker, an intellectual, practically a comedian. Heck, he even played a villain in a 1970's "B" horror movie. He knows the rules. He just treats them more as suggestions. He does it how HE likes, even when recording. He's fearless and open, in life and music.

I prefer other musician's musical interpretations over Igor's in many cases. But at least as often, as critical as I am of 16th to 18th Century keyboard music, I frequently find myself thinking, "nicely done, but Igor's version just has more life." Being a purist, I often have to play Igor's albums several times before I start nodding and grinning at particular moments. This album was no exception.

If you're a purist who hates surprises, Igor's not for you. If you're the type that likes to contrast various interpretations of the same music, you will find several gems on this and other Kipnis albums that you'll be glad to have heard.

The first thing that strikes the listener about this recording - taken from the famed 1970s pressings done for EMI - is Igor Kipnis' musical exuberance and enthusiasm. Although this is welcome, it is somewhat ironic that despite the bubbliness of the interpreter, the music ends up being somewhat understated. Instead of focusing on the subtle details and deliciousness of each phrase, Kipnis contents himself with often mowing through a piece and sacrificing clarity and harmonic interest for interpretations that are sometimes more worthy of background music.

The playing is dry and tends towards the inexpressive, and the Rutkowski & Robinette harpsichord - a copy of a Hass German 18th-century two-manual harpsichord including a 16' stop - has an unpleasant and metallic sound. Furthermore, it is clear that Kipnis has not done his homework (although he tries to decieve us): he follows double-dotting and other period style aspects in the French ouverture, but then he overdots things where they were not indicated, and his ornamentation and phrasing in the Goldbergs are not thought out particularly well. Also, it seems that his playing is made up of extremes - either overwrought over-legato or a brutal touch - that makes him sound like a bad pianist rather than a good harpsichordist. A dissapointment, and not the best example of the playing of a really superb musician.