PERSPECTIVE — Italian pianist Beatrice Rana first came to international attention at the age of 18 in 2011, when she won first prize at the Concours musical international de Montréal. She followed this up two years later with a second-place finish at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Since then, she has emerged as a major artist, equally at home in Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Ravel, and Bernstein. Now 32, Rana tours internationally and records prolifically, and she ranks among the elites of contemporary artists.
I first encountered Rana in a live concert a few years ago at Toronto’s Koerner Hall. She performed Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata with a technical assurance and interpretative maturity that kept me on the edge of my seat from the first note to the last. Rana plays without any physical idiosyncrasy at all, simply letting her hands express the way she feels the music. One can hardly connect her poise on the piano bench with the power and intensity that emerges from the instrument. The Hammerklavier is among the most difficult of works for piano to master technically, with its seemingly endless succession of trills and fugues, not to mention its inordinate length. Rana not only meets these challenges but also digs deep into the composer’s vision of what it all means. In 2024, she documented her version of the Hammerklavier on a Warner Classics CD (5054197897689). It is as distinguished a reading of the work as any available.
Recently, Rana was back in Toronto, this time to play the Ravel G major concerto with Gustavo Gimeno and the Toronto Symphony. She was dazzling in the outer movements. But it was in the Adagio assai that she really came into her own. She was mesmerizing in the initial statement of the unusually long 34-bar melody. The tempo was extremely slow, but she held attention from beginning to end, and beyond, by playing so softly one felt the need to lean forward to hear the music.
This same command of long phrases came to mind as I listened to her play the opening Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations on a recording from 2016. Rana has not yet recorded Ravel’s G major Piano Concerto, but she has a recent performance on YouTube with Cristian Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France.
The music of J.S. Bach holds a prominent place in Rana’s repertoire. Aside from the Goldberg Variations, she recently has released several CDs of the keyboard concertos with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. None of these works were written for the modern piano, and Rana makes no apology for what the instrument can bring to this music. She uses a full range of dynamics as she thinks the music requires.
I grew up with Glenn Gould’s 1955 recording of the Goldberg Variations, and shortly thereafter I learned that Rosalyn Tureck had something to offer, too. This magnificent and complex work was once rather rare concert fare until Gould made it one of his party pieces. Since then, many leading pianists have made it central to their repertoires. The Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has had considerable success with the Goldbergs in the last several years.
The score of the Goldberg Variations has no tempo markings for the opening and closing Aria, nor for any of the 30 variations. This means that if one compares performances, there is invariably a wide range of tempo choices. Everyone takes the Aria slowly, but the question is how slow? Rana is quite slow and gives the music a somewhat improvisational character.
I was reminded of a video of jazz pianist Keith Jarrett playing “Danny Boy.” Jarrett is improvising and constantly surprising us in his choice of harmony from one chord to the next. Rana conveys the same feeling, and in so doing makes Bach’s harmonies fresh and almost surprising even to listeners who know the music well. Then comes Variation 1, taken at a stately tempo that still manages to sound bracing. Variation 14 is remarkable not only for its technical wizardry but also for its ferocity. As in the Hammerklavier, Rana executes every ornament with effortless accuracy. And for clarity of articulation, one has to go back to Gould for a suitable comparison. But while Gould’s articulation on his 1955 recording is rather dry and bloodless, Rana is full-bodied without sacrificing clarity.
The same qualities appear again in Rana’s magnificent recordings of the keyboard concertos. The highlight is surely the performance of the D minor Concerto, BWV 1052. The fast movements are very fast indeed but never sound rushed. Rana and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta maintain almost metronomic precision while still finding ways to keep the phrasing fresh and interesting. The pianist and these musicians have obviously spent hours adding dynamic nuances in nearly every bar.
And yet the effect never sounds contrived or imposed on the music. Rather, as in the case of the Goldberg Variations, the overall impression is of musicians enjoying what they are doing. As it happens, while Rana and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta have recorded four of Bach’s keyboard concertos on a CD for Warner Classics (5021732433633), the D minor, the D major, and the F minor are also available as videos from the Warner recording sessions on YouTube. The latter are highly recommended for the fullest appreciation of what these artists achieved together.
Every summer, Yannick Nézet-Séguin spends several weeks with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Baden-Baden. They give a number of concerts, and the results are recorded for later release, usually by Deutsche Grammophon. In 2022, they were joined by Rana for concertos by Robert and Clara Schumann. Rana records exclusively for Warner Classics, and the Schumann performances were released on that label (5054197296284). The Clara Schumann concerto, composed when she was only 14, has enjoyed a rediscovery in recent years, and there are now several recordings available. But none of them offers the beauty of phrasing and attention to detail one hears in Rana’s performance. Her account of Robert Schumann’s familiar concerto is equally good.
Rana and Nézet-Séguin have also collaborated on another Schumann recording, a Warner Classics digital-only version of Robert’s Bilder aus Osten, a series of short 4-hands pieces inspired by Friedrich Rückert’s translations of the poetry of the Arabic author Al-Hariri. These are charming works probably intended to be played by Robert and Clara to amuse themselves at home. Rana and Nézet-Séguin obviously also enjoyed themselves in making these recordings.
Chopin also figures prominently in Rana’s discography. Her earliest Chopin recording is taken from a performance given at the Montreal Competition in 2011 (ATMA Classique 00722056639026). In the Préludes, Op. 28, she obviously impressed the judges with impeccable technique and a characterful reading of each of the pieces in the set.
Equally fine is a CD for Warner Classics (190296764219) devoted to Chopin’s Etudes, Op. 25, and the four Scherzos. Then, in 2023, came the aforementioned Hammerklavier recording but coupled with a thrilling performance of Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2.
What distinguishes Rana’s Chopin playing is an exceptional technical mastery coupled with a freedom of expression that invariably makes for compelling listening. She doesn’t just give us a virtuoso’s command of the notes; she takes us on a journey that amounts to master storytelling. In other words, she has something to say about the music she plays, and we can’t wait to turn the page to find out where she is taking us.
Rana was born in the province of Lecce in southeast Italy. She returns there every summer to take part in Classiche Forme, a chamber-music festival she founded. The ninth edition will be held July 13-20, 2025. In addition to Rana, featured artists will include violinist Leonidas Kavakos, violist Georgy Kovalev, the Chaos String Quartet, Quartetto Werther, I Virtuosi di Sansevero, and Trio Concept.
