Although John Field (1782-1837) is not widely recognised today, his biography was impressive. Robert Schumann, writing as a critic, gave Field’s music good reviews. Glinka was one of his pupils and admirers. Liszt edited and published an edition of his Nocturnes for piano.
Field’s legacy includes seven piano concertos, sonatas and various other solo piano works — but it is these Nocturnes that are his main claim to fame. Born in Dublin, Field made his way initially to England, but his most productive period came in Russia, where he stayed from 1802 to 1829. He even merits a mention in Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
When Alice Sara Ott heard one of Field’s Nocturnes for the first time, she says “it was as if I had known it since my childhood”. The nostalgic quality impressed her, but also the range of the 18 pieces, some having the charm of Mozart, others a lyricism with rippling embellishments that clearly prefigures the Nocturnes of Chopin.
In Ott’s playing, classical elegance and clarity prevail over Romantic melancholy. She is faster than most other recordings, lighter, less inclined to linger or envelop the music in a pedal-induced haze.
Some people may prefer the darker colours and emotional depth of more obviously nocturnal rival recordings, but the playing here is at a consistently higher technical level. Nocturne No 7 sparkles with magic. The part-writing in No 13, the “Rêverie-Nocturne”, is effortlessly clear. No 15, “Song without words”, echoes the beauty of a Bellini aria.
★★★★☆
‘John Field: Complete Nocturnes’ is released by Deutsche Grammophon