This is in some ways a curious compilation, though certainly not an unrepresentative or an unenterprising one. Pride of place goes to Ogdon’s magnificent pioneering account of the Busoni Concerto, in which his instinctive, unassailable authority and his passionate advocacy of the out-of-the-way are united. There have been other superb accounts since (most notably from Peter Donohoe on EMI; 1/91 – nla) but none which quite rivals the grandeur or the thrill of discovery in this one. A sizeable bonus comes in the shape of Busoni’s Chopin Variations, a characteristically mixed bag of a piece which veers between the riveting and the vaguely embarrassing.
This second disc alone is arguably worth the price of the set. Which is just as well, because the first one is patchy. The Rachmaninov Sonata is several degrees less spontaneous and creatively alive than Van Cliburn’s in Philips’s series. Although tonally warmer, and comparable to Cliburn in depth of feeling and idiomatic understanding, it never has me on the edge of my seat, and Ogdon’s sound doesn’t expand convincingly towards the crunch moments. The finale even comes across as rather dry and circumspect, its eventual emotional release less than overwhelming. The Scriabin sets off rather dully, lacking uplift and not without some emergency glossing-over in the prestissimo volando. Fine though the big climax is, I couldn’t honestly call it ecstatic.
Ates Orga’s accompanying essay comments frankly and perceptively on the glories and shortcomings of Ogdon’s Alkan Concerto. In large parts this is a performance which could only have come from a master pianist, especially when the textures are at their most extravagant, and there’s no denying the dramatic sweep over large tracts of the colossal 26-minute first movement. Equally, in the finale the impression more than occasionally surfaces of an interpretation sketched rather than finished.
No serious worries about recording quality, and if the Alkan and the Busoni fill gaps in your collection I certainly wouldn’t hesitate. Otherwise I’d be inclined to wait and see what the promised second Ogdon instalment in the series brings.'