Akito Tani (piano)
In Concert
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Fantasie in B minor, Op 28
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Fantasie in C major, Op 17
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) 
Liebesleid (arr. Sergei Rachmaninoff)
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Piano Sonata in B minor, S.178
Bonus DVD: Interview, Scriabin’s Fantasie in B minor and October from Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons [24]
rec. 2022, Takasaki City Theatre, Japan
EXTON OVCX-00093 SACD [79]

Browsing YouTube a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a performance of Liszt’s Dante Sonata which was exceptional by any standards. Not only was it playing of passionate intensity, but there were moments of sensitive lyrical sculpting. This balance between poetry and drama I found both deeply convincing and alluring. The performance was filmed in 2017, and the pianist was Akito Tani from Japan. A spot of googling revealed that he’d just recorded his first album on the Exton label. Sadly, there’s no Dante Sonata, but Liszt’s B minor Sonata is on the menu together with Schumann’s Fantaisie in C major and Scriabin’s B minor Fantaisie.

What more fitting opener to a recital than Scriabin’s Fantasie in B minor, Op 28. This single movement score, penned in 1900, sits between the third and fourth sonatas. It’s had wide currency among Russian pianists especially, with notable versions by Sofronitsky, Neuhaus, Richter and Lazar Berman. I can tell you from the start that Akito Tani can certainly hold his own in such distinguished company. His performance is one of epic grandeur, wild mesmeric vision and incandescence. He is also a master of dynamics. The performance embodies romantic fervour, ardour, total command and presence.

My reaction to the performance of Schumann’s Fantasie in C major is equally positive. For me, it’s the composer’s greatest piano work; it bears a dedication to Franz Liszt. Akito Tani delivers a reading of magnanimity, affection and emotional sweep. In the opening movement, unlike some performances I’ve heard, he never lets the tension sag. It’s one of spontaneity, exuberance and abandon. The march rhythms of the middle movement strut confidently, and those treacherous leaps at the end are flawless in execution. The final movement is poised, calm and transcendentally poetic, transporting us to another distant world.

After two works speaking of unalloyed passion, it’s pleasing that Kreisler’s Liebesleid (“Love’s Sorrow”), in an arrangement by Sergei Rachmaninoff, is positioned next before the mighty Liszt Sonata. This attractive miniature, a gentle waltz, provides an element of diversion. Akito Tani contours the elegant decoration with elegance and Viennese charm in a thoroughly stylish and idiomatic reading.

As the Schumann Fantasie was dedicated to Liszt, so the B minor Sonata returns the complement with an equally gracious dedication. Akito Tani’s vision is one of monumental weight and powerful drama, interspersed with those ever-elusive poetic gestures. Cast in a single cyclical movement, its six themes undergo transformation during the course, and are moulded into one overarching sonata-form movement. The pianist fully understands the architecture of the work and his interpretation is both imaginative and inspired. The performance has some outstanding elements, from the barnstorming octave passages at the start to the fugal passages later on, which are deftly picked out with clarity and cleanly defined. The contrasting lyrical sections benefit from some lovely expressive phrasing.

The accompanying DVD, to all intents and purposes a taster, lasts for a mere 24 minutes and records two performances, without audience, given in the Takasaki City Theatre. Akito Tani performs the Scriabin B minor Fantaisie, Op 28 as on the audio disc. The other work is October from Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. Well-considered camera angles with some close-ups work extremely effectively. More pieces would have been welcome. For the remaining ten minutes of the DVD, the pianist answers some questions about his career and the music he plays. Spoken in Japanese, there are no subtitles offered, so I’m unable to elucidate any further.

This SACD is superbly well-recorded. The acoustic of the Takasaki City Theatre provides an ambience which fits like a glove. Admittedly aimed at the Japanese market, the notes are in Japanese only. Although now only nineteen years of age, this is a very promising launch to what will, hopefully, be a spectacular career. All I can add is: watch this space!

Stephen Greenbank