SA-CD.net RNOreview

Francesco Tristano Schlimé is a 25-year-old pianist whose work has been praised for its extraordinary depth and maturity. He was born in Luxembourg in 1981 and attended conservatories in Brussels, Paris and Luxembourg before entering Juilliard. He is a protégé of Mikhail Pletnev with whom he continues to study. Schlimé has been composing since childhood and has written jazz works for solo piano and jazz ensembles. He also explores his interest in improvisation. The imaginative programme on this SACD has been well chosen to showcase all these aspects of his undoubted talent.

The whip crack that begins the Ravel at once establishes the wide dynamic range of the recording, but it is quickly evident that the overall balance is in favour of the pianist. Throughout this movement I found that some orchestral detail heard on other recordings was lost, and that the playing of the Russian National Orchestra did not quite match the virtuosity of some of its competitors, notably the Cleveland Orchestra on the Zimerman/ Boulez (CD) version on DGG. Schlimé, however, plays with a relaxed confidence that makes light of the formidable difficulties of the piece.

The second movement (Adagio assai) is the highlight of the performance. Schlime's tempo is quite relaxed, but the long melody that opens the movement never drags or loses its shape. The entry of the flute, then oboe and clarinet is truly magical and Schlimé weaves his filigree accompaniment most sensitively. Later in this movement I would have liked the cor anglais to be slightly less reticent, but overall it is a mesmerizing account.

The jazzy finale is brilliantly despatched by both pianist and orchestra and while the performance of the work as a whole does not quite match the mercurial sparkle of Zimerman or the poise of Michelangeli, it certainly does not disappoint.

I have no reservations whatsoever about the Prokofiev 5th Concerto, which is one of the finest versions I have ever heard. Schlimé plays it with both rhythmic bite and complete technical assurance in the outer movements, and sustained power and tenderness in the Larghetto. The Russian National Orchestra sound much more at home in this work and the balance between orchestra and piano is superb. Pletnev sensibly divides his violins left and right and the recording captures every detail of Prokofiev's quirky orchestration with crystal clarity, including a formidable bass drum.

The disc is completed by Schlimé's own '3 Improvisations' that are loosely based on the preceding concertos and make a fitting and entertaining postlude to the main works.

The first improvisation, wittily entitled 'Reveal', is a reflective piece that has echoes of the slow movement of the Ravel concerto, but is quite original and haunting in its own right. The second, 'Progression', is short, staccato and jazzy, while the last, 'Return', begins with massive sustained chords, recalling the opening of the Prokofiev concerto Larghetto. These gradually give way to more reflective music that eventually fades to silence.

I found all three novel and worthy of repeated hearing.

The DSD recording is up to Pentatone's usual high standard and captures the acoustic of the Grand Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire admirably, particularly in the surround sound layer.