Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Monday, March 07, 2005

Knudåge Riisager, Piano Works

Dacapo

This CD has an agenda. I suppose that shouldn’t come as much of surprise since it comes from Dacapo, the national label of Denmark, which specializes in introducing the world to little known Danish composers and their works. Piano Works, though it collects eight pieces for the instrument by Knudåge Riisager, has a more specific purpose. The entire CD appears to have been designed to get one particular work, Riisager’s “Sonata Op.22,” into the contemporary piano repertoire. Want proof? After a thorough description of Riisager’s life and compositional output, the liner notes end with this:

“Although Knudåge Riisager, as mentioned earlier, was not a pianist by training, and his piano pieces have not hitherto had a central position in the repertoire, this record shows that the sonata from 1931 in particular must be regarded as a major work in the Danish piano music of the inter-war years.”

This single-mindedness isn’t a problem because of the piece in question. The sonata is a wonderful listen. Riisager grabs what he likes from the thirty or forty years preceding its composition without sounding derivative or jumbled. The sonata manages to be at once playful and profound – no easy feat. Christina Bjørkøe, the pianist, performs it with force and clarity, which she maintains throughout the CD.

Unfortunately, the sonata leads off the CD and is double the length of any other piece included. The first movement alone, lasting just under eight minutes, is longer than all but one of the remaining pieces, whose individual movements never exceed three minutes. Accordingly, the balance of the CD is all off. Everything after the sonata feels weightless in comparison, though not because they aren’t nice works. Many of the pieces share the virtues of the sonata. However, few of them stand out enough to escape from the sonata’s shadow, especially considering their lengths. Exceptions are the sweet first and third movements of “4 Pieces from Slaraffenland” and the sparse first movement of “Fire Børneklaverstykker,” which manage to carve out their own niche in the listener’s memory.

Next time, Dacapo, have a little more respect for both the composer and the listeners. Order the pieces more evenly, and let us discover the highlight on our own.

posted by Lanier Sammons 12:24 AM