 Il faut s’y faire : Bruckner composa des piécettes de salons… Comme tout le monde ! Quadrilles, polkas, marches, valses, etc., une trentaine de partitions nous sont parvenues, datant des années 1850 et 1860. N’oublions pas que la Symphonie n°1 ne fut commencée qu’en 1865. Bruckner avait alors 41 ans. Francesco Pasqualotto met beaucoup d’allant pour restituer cette ambiance dansante pour institution de jeunes filles dans une ville d’eau autrichienne et… nous faire oublier Bruckner. L’autre, celui avec un grand “B”. A quel moment a lieu le grand “passage”, s’interroge-t-on ? Assurément, dans aucune de ces pièces. Certaines pages glissent vers Schubert en raison du caractère profondément autrichien du Ländler et plus encore vers Chopin dans une mazurka voire Schumann dans quelque Fantasia au tempo langsam ou Erinnerung. C’est ainsi qu’au détour d’un Andante en ré mineur, l’organiste Bruckner se dévoile par des modulations harmoniques très personnelles. Le mécanisme des grands arpèges montants et descendants d’une Etude en fa véloce repris bien plus tard est un autre indice. Ailleurs, le romantisme des pages les plus tardives est touchant. Ainsi, telle Fantaisie en Sol, au caractère profondément religieux nous fait dresser l’oreille. Après Wolfgang Brunner et Fumiko Shiraga, le pianiste italien nous offre une intégrale instructive. Mais, avouons-le : Bruckner n’est pas encore né. (Jean Dandrésy) A must for Brucknerians: a new album of almost unknown music by the Austrian symphonic genius, and a collection currently unrivalled on record. You might expect that such music as Bruckner wrote for the piano was composed early in his career, which only took off in his forties after prolonged periods of study and personal setbacks. This is true to an extent: dating from 1850 – when Bruckner was already 26 years old – the earliest piece here is a Steiermärker, an Austrian dance of homely charm, and a quartet of lively quadrilles. But the bulk of his piano output dates from 1862, when Bruckner was on the verge of composing his first (unnumbered) symphony, but with a substantial catalogue of sacred music behind him. Incense clouds and mountain vistas have no place here. There are several catchy polkas, minuets and waltzes: contrary to popular understanding, Bruckner was a keen and accomplished dancer, whose awkward manner in conversation was belied by his fine sense of rhythm. Some pieces here are more substantial: a seven-minute Sonata, for example, and poetic gems, full of intense feeling and personal reflections, such as Erinnerung and Stille Betrachtung an einem Herbstabend. A D minor March even seems to herald various passages in his later symphonies, where the brass was to play such an important role. It’s a winning collection that should surprise and delight anyone who thought exclusively of Bruckner as a composer of symphonic boa constrictors. The album is thoroughly annotated by its performer, Francesco Pasqualotto, who has dedicated himself to this under-rated corner of romantic piano repertoire with both enthusiasm and a technique refined by extensive performances of the more renowned piano music of Beethoven and György Ligeti.
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