Customer Reviews

Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Shura Cherkassky Vol. I

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My Name is Daniel Johnson and I am an 18 yr old concert pianist that tours Australia. The Chopin Etudes are one of the corner stones of my piano playing and this is mainly because i enjoy coming back to them ever since i learnt my first at age 11. Therefore i like to hear many other interpretations by other pianists. Vladimir Ashkenazy is my inspiration and his recording of the Etudes of Chopin are as pure as they come but i started collecting the "Great Pianist" series and stumbled upon Cherkassies recording and to say the least I am absolutely stunned. Not only does he pull of these 27 feats of Virtuosity but does so with pique perfection, which at times, seems like no effort is required to play them. I was pleased that i purchased this cd. I always look forward to hearing interpretations of Opus 10 no 4. As it seems it was the only one i really had trouble with and since i used it on the opening night of my first performance, its a treasure to experience it again through other masterful hands.

I heard Shura Cherkassky play in person three times, and each time he blew me away, but his recordings were not always as warm or exciting as his live performances. This set is an exception. In the Etudes, especially, I can almost see Shura hunched over the keys, his feet working the pedals frantically if instinctively to produce those beautiful corruscating cascades of sound in which he enveloped us all. How magical his playing was, and how unique! I am so happy that this album exists so I can tell people, "THAT is what Shura Cherkassky sounded like."

Most of the reviewers liked this recording for the Etudes. I pull this recording out for the Preludes, the outstanding Barcarolle and Nocturne Op. 55 No. 1. These recordings are my standards for these works. He caresses these works with such loving tenderness. His melodic line always sings, and he can be so magical in the way he turns a phrase.

I first dismissed this recording of the Preludes because Cherkassky doesn't have the same technical polish that younger artists are able to attain. But if you listen to the Preludes for a while, you discern Cherkassky's astonishing ability to create pianistic color. The Preludes are little tone poems and need to be played with that in mind. By comparison, most newer recordings now sound shallow and dry to me.

The B minor Sonata is a live performance and also shows Cherkassky at his most individual. Yet another performance to be cherished.

I was so taken by this recording that I went out and purchased another Cherkassky recording of Chopin. He has a unique way with Chopin that inspires repeated listenings.

Usually I find Cherkassky's studio performances lacking the fire and passion he use to bring to the concert hall, however this studio recording of the Chopin Etudes simply defies any preconceived notion of the pianist and piano playing. Beautifull and lyrical, hearing them played this way one tends to forget any technical connection with these works. Absolute committment all the way.

Sometimes I like to listen to the etudes by Pollini or Gavrilov, just to hear them show off their technical brilliance. But I listen to Cherkassky to hear the great beauty that is there. And since it has to be assumed that any pianist daring to record these very difficult works has plenty of technique, then of course the real trick is to make music of them. This Cherkassky does probably better than anyone else. He brings out delicate and mysterious beauties, he finds dynamic and melodic lines that no one else seems to have found. I can only agree with the other raves for these CD's. If you love great piano playing, you will sooner or later have these discs in your collection.

Cherkassky's "Etudes" are one of the most memorable performances I heard of this work. He never tries to overwhelm the listner by technical bombast or gushing sentimentaly. Instead, he gently caresses melodies and brings out countermelodies. In the fast Etudes, he is elegant (never banging!), and in the slower ones, he becomes the Russian melancholic. His whispering pianissimos are class of their own. The Preludes are comparable to Alfred Cortot's 1933 recording. Cherkassky's playing is more introverted than one would usually hear. Some Preludes could have been more dramatic, but the overall impression is incomparably poetic. The rest of the set is equally outstanding (Barcarolle being the most memorable). Excellent CDs!

In the liner notes to this CD, Cherkassky is quoted as saying: "Some people like my playing, and some perhaps don't. But I don't think anybody can call me boring."

That was exactly my thought when first listening to his interpretations. The tempos and phrasing are inventive and unique. There are times he seems to be so inventive that his hands sound as if they are not quite operating in sync, yet it all works beautifully. Cherkassky's playing demonstrates the difference between a skilled technician and an artist.

His rendition of the Chopin Barcarolle is a true masterpiece, one I never tire of listening to. It alone would justify buying this album.

If I had to choose just one adjective to describe the playing of Shura Cherkassky, it would be 'elegant.' I've just been comparing all the traversals of the Chopin 'Preludes' contained in the Philips 'Great Pianists of the 20th Century' collection; it includes those of Marta Argerich, Claudio Arrau, Jorge Bolet, and Alfred Cortot, along with Cherkassky's. Of these surely the most elegant, the most nuanced are those of Cherkassky. Arrau's come close (and are in better sound). For my money, the most exciting, although not necessarily the most accurate, are still those of Cortot, as old as they are. Still, I would not want to be without these gems by Cherkassky. He seems unrushed, unrhetorical, unmannered. The Preludes seem natural, somewhat restrained, always wise and civilized. The sound in these 1968 recordings is just fine.

The 'Études,' however, are something else. They seem a bit unsettled and the sound, from the early 1950s, shows its age. Still, they are skilfully phrased and he makes music of them, not just show-pieces. The F major and the C minor ('Revolutionary') are particularly effective.

As one earlier reviewer pointed out, the 'Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55, No. 1' is wonderful. And even better is the 'Barcarolle in F-sharp, Op. 60.' Indeed, it is one of the best I know.

The Third sonata does not catch fire, for some reason. I wonder why Philips didn't include his more effective recording of the Second. Ah, well, I think it's still available elsewhere.

The Philips collection is a treasure-house of important performances and this set is particularly valuable for the Preludes, the F minor Nocturne, and the Barcarolle.

The most Chopin-like recording. In my opinion if Chopin is living now, he would play just like Shura Cherkassky. All etudes and preludes are really excellent. The sound quality is also good. There aren't any bad points in this recording. There may not be another recording that contains all Chopin's etudes and preludes. This is really the best recording of Chopin. Essential for any classical music lover. (next you can buy Cziffra's recording. His playing of Chopin is the best in technic, but not Chopion-like.)

shura delivers...forget your rubinstein, just try his nocturne in Fmin, the complete etudes played in THE most lucid and intelligent tapestry of inner voyages.