Howard Karp: Concert Recordings (1962-2007)

"[Howard Karp] brought extraordinary technique, wondrous fluidity, arresting insights and especially a rich, deep piano sound to his performances of wide-ranging repertory. The Albany recordings are taken from recitals he gave between 1962 and 2007, mostly at Midwestern universities, though there is a riveting account of Leon Kirchner's First Piano Sonata (1948) recorded by Berlin Radio in 1973. Karp clearly thrived in concerts, because the performances in this collection are palpably assured. In six pieces from Liszt's daunting, visionary suites "Années de Pélerinage"("Years of Pilgrimage"), recorded at various universities mostly during the '70s, Karp's playing is technically brilliant and profoundly musical. How is it possible that a pianist who could play Liszt like this was not signed up and sent on tour by a major manager? From what I knew of him, though, Karp would not have been interested. His account of Beethoven's mighty "Hammerklavier"Sonata, taken from a 1970 recital at the University of Illinois in Urbana, is remarkable. True to his heritage as a Lhevinne student, he plays with Romantic fervor and spaciousness. But this is also a lucid, intricately detailed and exhilarating performance of Beethoven's labyrinthine and difficult sonata. The highlights of the set are performances of two major Schumann works: the Sonata No. 3 in F minor, in 1967, and the Fantasy, in 1972, both recorded at the University of Illinois. Schumann's Fantasy blends Beethovenian structure with, appropriate to its title, fantastical wildness. Karp uncannily conveys both qualities at once. His account of the Sonata in F minor, subtitled Concerto Without Orchestra, is revelatory. Though this epic work has arresting qualities, it is at its core baffling, ungainly and complex music. While playing with consummate pianism, Karp conveys the strangeness in the piece, as in the seemingly chaotic stretches of development in the first movement."