The playing of American pianist Jonathan Biss is as studious as the photo on the cover of this Onyx-label release might suggest. Biss was a student of Leon Fleisher, but his playing in Classical and early Romantic repertory might also suggest Rudolf Serkin, whom he also somewhat physically resembles. He is probably a finer technician than either of those models, with an awesomely precise, crystalline sound. In a work like the Fantasy in G minor, Op. 77, Biss' careful reading, rarely rising above mezzo forte, is decidedly ...
Read More
The playing of American pianist Jonathan Biss is as studious as the photo on the cover of this Onyx-label release might suggest. Biss was a student of Leon Fleisher, but his playing in Classical and early Romantic repertory might also suggest Rudolf Serkin, whom he also somewhat physically resembles. He is probably a finer technician than either of those models, with an awesomely precise, crystalline sound. In a work like the Fantasy in G minor, Op. 77, Biss' careful reading, rarely rising above mezzo forte, is decidedly out of the mainstream, and the first movement of the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27/2 ("Moonlight"), seems to lose part of its reason for being in Biss' minimally pedaled reading. But there are many very beautiful moments on the program. The Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 7, which is almost nobody's pick as a favorite among the 31, seems to magically fall into its proper proportions in Biss' hands, with the slow movement, which Biss in his own notes aptly...
Read Less
