The Chronicle Review Corner

It’s been a hard year, so hard we forgot to review this when it came out in February. But now is possibly a better time to promote it: it’s powerful but simple, yet emotionally engaging and some fine music to sit and reflect on the year. Or just chill out for Christmas with a glass of something.

Most of the reviews we looked at concentrated on Soldano’s technique: he is professor of piano performance at the Giordano Conservatory in Foggia, Italy, following similar posts at Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome and in Trani. He’s very good. But knowing his technique and how it fares against the score isn’t much of a recommendation to a punter who wants some nice music.

So: these are pieces that create an ambience rather than having killer tunes. The music seems to be about feelings: the sleeve notes talk about bitterness, love, inextinguishable pain and the “spiritual, emotional and formal tension” in Rachmaninov’s work. Rachmaninov’s “immense instrumental abilities to give life to a sweeping language” are mentioned at one point and that’s probably it: there’s a lot of emotion gone into this work, the aim being to create something beautiful from a mood rather than music that reflects any particular mood. It’s obviously technically difficult so Soldano must have practised but the sound is relaxed, a guy who just sat down and started to play. The opening Etude-Tableau in A minor, Op. 39 No. 2 is perhaps the weightiest piece on the album, Moments Musicaux, Op. 16 less weighty and the closing three movement Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 more sombre but still less heavy.

All in all, an engaging and enjoyable collection of atmospheric piano music.

—Jeremy Condliffe