With the exception of the ever-popular Islamey, Balakirev’s piano works are largely products of his later years, and collectively (Islamey notwithstanding) they represent one of the most unduly neglected areas of the repertoire. Nicholas Walker, who studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Moscow Conservatoire, here embarks on what promises to be the first recording of the complete piano music. On the evidence of this first volume it will be a perceptive and superbly idiomatic survey.
Walker’s credentials as a Balakirev interpreter are immediately assured in La Fileuse, a sparkling curtain-raiser, and in an authoritative account of the B flat minor Scherzo. Particularly impressive, however, are the more introspective pieces, such as the B minor Nocturne and the delightful Spanish Melody, where Walker’s sensitivity and subtly varied tonal palette are enchanting. Overall the playing is stylish and well polished, although occasionally, as in the waltzes and the Tarantella, one wishes for slightly stronger characterization, or more sharply differentiated dynamic contrasts. The most ambitious and demanding of the works presented here, the Fantasia on themes from Glinka’s “A Life for the Tsar”, is negotiated with some aplomb, even if it does not always match the poise and atmosphere of Earl Wild’s classic 1969 recording (at last now reissued on Elan). Walker nevertheless captures the essential spirit of drama and fantasy, and there are some marvellously evocative imitations of the balalaika (particularly the rapid repeating notes at 5'25'').
The recorded sound is excellent, and the remaining volumes in this series are eagerly awaited.'