These delightful classical rags – so memorable – have been performed in many ways. Absolutely straight, by the likes of Joshua Rifkin (Nonesuch, A/97); in various arrangements such as Chojnacka’s harpsichord account (Auvidis); from Perlman and Previn on violin and piano (EMI, 9/86); or mercilessly jazzed up by, for instance, Marcus Roberts (Sony, 6/99). In reviewing the CD transfers of Rifkin’s historic early-1970s LPs two years ago, I described his approach as the real thing, the authentic Joplin experience. To use his rags as jazz standards has always been fair game, but Joplin was a serious composer who wrote with ‘the supposition that each note would be played as written’ – and not too fast either.
Dyson’s best performances are those in which he simply lets the music speak for itself. For example, the early, unsyncopated Great Crush Collision March, a programmatic piece based on the American habit of creating train crashes for entertainment, and three numbers from Joplin’s opera, Treemonisha, not available elsewhere. Following Jelly Roll Morton in creating an introduction and coda out of the end of the first strain, he delivers a convincing Maple Leaf Rag.
Unfortunately, Dyson is apt to start ornamenting the melodies and messing with the bass the first time round, rather than doing this to refresh the repeats. As a result we don’t always hear what Joplin originally wrote. A bad case is the last strain of Weeping Willow (track 8, 3'18'') where Dyson’s filled-in bass is taken from Rifkin, who uses it only for the repeat. At times Dyson’s rhythm is flabby – it doesn’t swing – and some of the few indications for softer playing are ignored. Heliotrope Bouquet and the second half of Pineapple Rag could be more delicate, although Rifkin is surprisingly mechanical with his one, too.
After knowing all these pieces since the 1970s and hearing these performances repeatedly, I can see why Rifkin stuck to the text and why Dyson now tries to loosen things up, but there is still room for a more carefully considered modern recording of this charming repertoire.'