Antonin Kubalek was born in 1935 in Czechoslovakia but has lived in Canada since 1968. He has already made two discs for Dorian, a newish American company that prides itself on state-of-the-art recording in the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in New York: those interested will find more about them in John Borwick's article (10/89). The first of these discs received a mixed review from DJF in the same issue. He found the playing over-rich, but JOC was more impressed by Kubalek's second issue and its Schumann programme (1/90). Like them, I find the piano sound itself rich and vibrant; it suits the sonata well enough, while also offering adequate crispness and sparkle in the Waltzes.
But Kubalek himself is more controversial. While the sonata begins majestically enough, momentum is lost after a mere six bars (at 0'17'') and I defy anyone to recognize the Allegro maestoso marking with which Brahms headed the movement. The first two pages alone last 2'50''. Those who like it played very introspectively may like this approach more than I do, but most collectors will probably prefer the noble performance by Murray Perahia (Sony Classical). He in no way underplays the brooding thoughtfulness of the writing, but does not lose sight of its inner energy either. He is my first choice, but if you want greater youthful ardour and impetuosity in this work, written when Brahms was only 20—and it is absent from Kubalek's playing—you could try Zoltan Kocsis on Hungaroton. He does not lack depth either, as the two slower movements show.
Predictably, Kubalek is more satisfying in these two Andante movements (there are five in all), and the longer of them (No. 2) is quietly and movingly eloquent. The Scherzo also goes well, with a vigorous elegance compensating for the lack of sheer fire. But this is not enough to make the performance of the sonata convincing as a whole, and in the Allegro moderato finale the accent is, as one rather expects, on the second of these words. However, the Waltzes are much more pleasing, having both warmth and lilt, and Kubalek plays the three Intermezzos lovingly, too, if with a fair amount of rubato freedom in the last of them.'