Orion Weiss: Arc III: Brahms, Schubert, Debussy, Dohnányi, Ligeti, Talma
First Hand Records

Pianist Orion Weiss vividly characterizes the arc of his recital trilogy in calling it “inverted, like a rainbow's reflection in water': issued in early 2022, the first volume slants downward, moving from hope to despair as it focuses on the tumultuous period before WWI; plunging lower, Arc II confronts the devastation and horror of the two world wars; and the final, just-released volume rises from the ashes, buoyed by hope and the promise of renewal. Using such themes as guideposts, Weiss devised imaginative set-lists to illustrate the different periods. Whereas the first parts feature works by Granados, Janácek, Scriabin, Ravel, Brahms, and Shostakovich, the third as audaciously couples standalone pieces by Debussy, Dohnányi, Ligeti, and Talma with multi-movement works by Brahms and Schubert. Taken together, Weiss's trilogy constitutes a tremendous collective statement.

The Ohio native's sixth album of solo piano music, Arc III is diverse—how could it be otherwise when Brahms' towering third sonata is framed by pieces by Dohnányi and Ligeti—but imparting a sense of cohesiveness is the works' shared concentration on rebirth and celebration. Weiss's belief in the power and resilience of the human spirit resonates clearly, no matter how much circumstances might seem intent on thwarting such optimism. He brings technical brilliance and interpretive insight to the recording, long at seventy-seven minutes but consistently gripping on content and performance grounds. Playing a Yamaha CFX concert grand piano, Weiss recorded the material during two January days in 2022 at Drew University's Concert Hall in Madison, New Jersey.

It's fitting that Weiss would sequence Louise Talma's Alleluia in Form of Toccata first, given that it was written in 1945 and premiered at NYC's Carnegie Hall in November of that year. The mood in the city would have been euphoric with the end of WWII, what with celebratory parades and battle-scarred soldiers returning home, and this five-minute setting by Nadia Boulanger's student sparkles with life-embracing joy. Packed with hyperactive staccato patterns and rhythmically charged flourishes, Weiss's technique is put to the test, but he meets the challenge handily. With his Fantasie in C Major, Op. 15, D, 760, 'Wandererfantasie' (1882), Schubert reshaped his lied “Der Wanderer” into a four-movement expression of rapture. The exuberance of the opening movement engages immediately, and Weiss again impresses with formidable execution. His segue from the declamatory opening to the hushed sequence that follows is deft, as is the return to effervescence. He possesses virtuosic technique, obviously, but it's his grasp of the material as an interpreter that speaks as much to his artistry. The dignified rendering of the song in the solemn second movement is beautifully handled, too, with the escalation from tender expression to turbulence effected adroitly. If the song is less overtly referenced in the other three movements, it's easy to overlook when the tone is so celebratory.

Characteristically evocative and visually suggestive, Debussy's L'isle joueyse (1904) gives poetic form to a fantastical setting infused with mystery and allure, and in his engulfing performance Weiss seems transported by the intoxicating material. As engrossing is his expressive reading of Erno Dohnányi's Pastorale on a Hungarian Christmas Song (1920), which recasts “The Angel from Heaven” as a lyrical reverie teeming with peacefulness and rapture. Those single-movement statements give way to the monumental third piano sonata by Brahms, whose five parts extend across thirty-five minutes, almost half the release's running-time. The opening “Allegro maestoso” captivates for its majestic dynamism but also gentleness. The rousing scherzo and exultant finale command attention, yet it might be the luminous, ten-minute andante that's the most stirring movement on account of its rhapsodic tone and cantabile quality. “Arc-en-ciel” (1985), from György Ligeti's first book of Études, concludes the album on a crepuscular and enigmatic note when notes cascade prismatically before vanishing.

March 2025