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After spending some time working on Janacek's piano works, namely the Sonata 1.X.1905 and In the Mist, I went back and listened to Mikhail Rudy's recording which I tore apart on this newsgroup ages ago.
I've been really unfair with him. The first time I listened to his solo disc and the two semi-concertante works, the Concertino and Capriccio, I was indignant. For whatever reason, I heard brazen insensitivity and an Entremont-like ugly tone. After listening to it again after, what, a year? - I have no idea how I heard it this way. None whatsoever. This is luxuriously paced playing. The tone is on the hard side and the atmosphere of the sonics is sterile, but it's clearly not the pianist's fault. Rudy does a fine job portraying the violent, conflicting emotions in the Sonata, and his interpretations have nothing in common with Firkusny's brisk, aromatic readings.
I ought to look into Rudy more, in fact. What else has he done worth visiting?
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