Hans-Dieter Grünefeld
Piano News, March 2026
Interpretation: 6 / Sound: 5 / Repertoire Value: 5
The poetically gentle, fluid “Wassermusik” (Water Music) from Luciano Berio’s cycle of encores serves, in a sense, as a metaphorical bridge between two late works. He likens his own sonata to a train journey in which a passenger, looking out the window, simultaneously observes shifting landscapes and rows of tall masts gliding past. This latter image evokes a constant Morse-code-like pattern on a single pitch—a pulsation that Finnish pianist Sanna Vaarni maintains with steadfast endurance. Around this core, she weaves nimble figurations representing the visible external contours—structures that intensify as they unfold. She shapes the Schubert sonata—whose cinematic sonorities she renders outstandingly—like a conversation in which ambivalent emotions emerge vividly: in the “Molto moderato e cantabile,” dark premonitions and wary skepticism give way to lyrical parlando and back again; the Andante stretches from a contemplative stance to robust, dramatic verve; massive chords and ironic grace mark the Minuet; and Sanna Vaarni shapes the final Allegretto with astonishing power, yet with clear articulation. These emotional shifts thus become an unexpected counterpart to the Berio sonata, whose sounds form a transposed visual gallery. A wonderful recital. ©️ 2026 Piano News