Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon has received much attention for his chamber music prowess, notably in collaboration with cellist Steven Isserlis. Yet he’s often recorded as a soloist, most memorably so in three Schumann discs released by Naxos in the 1990s. It is likely that Várjon’s solo debut for ECM will attract
a higher level of anticipation and scrutiny.

‘Perhaps it is the lustre of Dénes Várjon’s playing that lifts everything he performs here into a state of newness’, writes Paul Griffiths in the first sentence of his booklet-notes. In reality, there’s nothing new, unusual, surprising or quirky about Várjon’s intelligent and technically shipshape interpretations of Janá∂ek’s In the Mists and both the Berg and Liszt Sonatas, and those desiring this particular grouping of works won’t be disappointed.

Still, the pianist faces strong catalogue competition. Várjon’s phrasing of the main theme of the first movement of the Janá∂ek perfectly captures the music’s speech-like syntax, as does András Schiff (also on ECM), albeit with a greater range of tonal inflection. But the intensity Várjon brings to the central climax borders on brittle and harsh, whereas Schiff and Piotr Anderszewski convey comparable momentum while allowing the phrases more breathing-room. In the Berg Sonata’s central development section, Várjon pushes the close counterpoint relentlessly forwards, whereas Mitsuko Uchida’s more measured pace and better-judged scaling of dynamics create a more convincing dialogue between the hands. To be sure, Várjon’s Liszt Sonata holds its own in an impossibly crowded catalogue. Striking details include the pianist’s phrase grouping of the exposition’s celebrated octaves to emphasise harmonic motion, or the sustained calmness he conveys across the slow ascending scales in the extended quiet passage prior to the fughetta. On the other hand, Liszt’s lyrical D major theme sounds rather matter-of-fact and businesslike when placed alongside Arrau or Hamelin. Similarly, the recapitulation’s climactic octaves and gradual winding down elicits a stronger sense of exultation and more cogent long-lined shaping from Yundi Li, Yuja Wang, Arnaldo Cohen and George-Emmanuel Lazaridis, to name but a few recent versions. ECM’s clear, attractive engineering offers a full-bodied, close-up and detailed piano sound, and also captures Várjon’s frequent intakes of breath and
vocal grimaces.