Customer Reviews

John Rusnak: Chopin Etudes, Opus 10 and Opus 25

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Even speaking as someone who is usually thrilled over unusual and personal performances of classical music, I am astonished at the uniformly positive reviews of this CD. I imagine that my review will not be to the liking of many, and I am prepared for "unhelpful" votes. But I hope that this will be meaningful to some readers and may perhaps prompt you to listen to some other performances of these etudes. Only a couple of other reviewers have noted any negative aspects of this performance, but, truth be told, the playing is not adequate on either technique or musicianship. I realize that there was no editing of this performance, which is admirable, and my criticisms take this fully into account.

First to state what is positive: Just to be able to play these etudes at all is a considerable accomplishment. And, very importantly, Mr. Rusnak succeeds at conveying a personality and identity. This is all-too-rare in classical music, and perhaps it is enough to rightfully make so many people love his playing. We see readily that he is a "Romantic" with his own personal take on the music, particularly with regard to rhythms. This is noteworthy and admirable.

However, the truth is that Mr. Rusnak's technique is barely up to the task of these etudes, and while his rhythmic "stuff" is potentially interesting, he doesn't do the other musical things that would be needed to make it "work."

Let's be specific......Regarding the technique, here are some examples. The second etude (Op. 10, #2), which is one of the great technical challenges of the entire piano literature, is taken at a slow tempo that ignores and negates both the technical and musical points of the piece. The eighth etude, the scampering-fluttering F major (Op. 10, #8), is full of errors and unmusical stops-and-starts, often apparently just for the performer to take time to reach or stretch for a difficult chord. The harp-like 11th etude is a chaotic mess of sloppily rolled chords, poor pedaling, and missed notes.

The rhythmic flexibility often seems arbitrary, and it is sorely unaccompanied by any corresponding play of dynamics. Let me try to explain .....When a singer stretches out a phrase, or lingers on a note, there is almost always some corresponding ebb-and-flow of loudness and softness; the phrase is "shaped" in a way that makes the rhythmic stuff make sense. Singers do this just naturally; it's harder to do on instruments, and it's a big part of what good instrumental playing is about. We all do it just naturally when we speak. If we slow down or speed up on a word or phrase for emphasis, we don't JUST do that; we match it with some changes in loudness or softness, as well as in the basic tone. Good musicianship involves these same aspects. When you hear music, even if you're not familiar with this principle (and even if you think it doesn't seem important), your ears tell you the difference between performers who do it and those who don't.

And Mr. Rusnak simply doesn't. There is rarely any variation of dynamics to match or "flesh out" the unusual rhythms. The net result is a sort of false expressiveness, kind of like when a politician gives a fake smile but you can tell it's fake because the rest of his face isn't smiling. We're talking about basic principles of music-making that apply even for performances that are unique and personal.

I am well prepared for "unhelpful" votes on this review. But I would just ask this: Please listen to at least one other CD of these etudes -- almost any other will do (I would suggest Murray Perahia or Claudio Arrau) -- and see if you don't find some sense in what I have said.

I'll admit to being one of the least qualified persons to review this CD, being no great connoisseur of classical music, and not knowing my Bach from my Chopin or my etude from my prelude. What I DO know, is that Chopin's compositions are considered to be rather difficult to play, and require a lot of upper body movement to get the job done right.

This CD contains the twelve technical exercises known as Opus 10 and the twelve of Opus 25, and I understand that for a pianist, this is the equivalent of a grueling aerobic workout. Not one to take the easy way out, John Rusnak laughs in the face of sound engineers everywhere, and delivers a powerful and beautifully executed album without digital or studio tweaking, so what you hear is what he plays, raw and direct, his fingers to your ears, and that's what makes it special.

One of the instantly recognizable pieces to me is Opus 10, No. 3 in E Major: Lento, ma non troppo, or to make it easier, track three, which was featured on the TV show "Smallville". I also recognized a few others, including Opus 10 #12, and took note of Opus 25, #11 and #3 and Opus 10 #4 for further investigation.

Overall, I found this CD very stimulating, and when I played it at work I actually got a lot of work done. John Rusnak is an extremely talented guy whose right hand certainly knows exactly what the left is doing.



Amanda Richards, November 8, 2006

Chopin's Etudes are widely regarded as among the most difficult works in the piano repertoire, and are a challenge even for accomplished concert pianists. If the performer cannot overcome the technical challenges, the musicality of these Etudes can be lost, and the listener will hear only technical struggles. My personal preference is for the flawless technique and interpretive mastery of such esteemed artists as Maurizio Pollini, Nikolai Lugansky, and Murray Perahia. It is only when performed by such superb musicians that the Chopin Etudes can be appreciated as some of the finest piano compositions of the 19th century. Nonetheless, I hope Mr. Rusnak will continue his admirable efforts, and will grow into a pianist of the stature to which he aspires.

There was a time in the Romantic period, a period which extended into Victorian times and is extant in appreciative circles even today, a time when guests would be invited into a home for the sole purpose of hearing a pianist perform the works of a composer in the setting for which they were written. Such is the case for the Chopin Etudes, works that now are part of every fine pianist's repertoire played on the distant stage in a hall of acoustic splendor for an audience sitting rigidly rapt at the expense of a high-priced admission. This welcome recording reverses all that and allows us to appreciate and hour of Chopin Etudes performed by the very fine pianist John Rusnak on a Yamaha piano in a salon setting.

If there is a gimmick here it is that the recording was made live and not enhanced by all of the sophisticated manipulations available to professionally recorded 'recitals'. Even 'live performances' are Dolbied and remixed and tampered with so that the final CD 'resembles' the event recorded but is not the experience of the audience. John Rusnak is a brave man to release a recording without the paraphernalia available to make a 'perfect' sound. What we are privileged to hear is Rusnak's survey of all 24 Etudes of Chopin's Opus 10 and Opus 25 played in the manner in which they were originally heard - our living room!

Rusnak is a well trained musician whose talents are not limited to those of a concert pianist. That is not to say that Rusnak's playing will erase all memories of today's plethora of brilliant musicians whose forte is the Chopin oeuvre - Ax, Perahia, Argerich, Uchida, Bronfman, Ollson, Pires, etc etc etc. Rusnak is not the dazzling technician nor the wistful poet found in the playing of those whose lives are spent emersed in the repertoire.

What John Rusnak brings to the Chopin Etudes is a sense of commitment and a tremendous sense of connected architecture of each of the Opus 10 and 25. And while I am amazed at the sound on this disc being untampered electronically, I am also aware that the natural ambience of recording tends to cover the total spectrum of the keyboard: that is inherently a problem in where the microphone was place in the particular room used for recording. That factor suggests that Rusnak's pedaling techniques are a bit on the heavy side, that his middle voices become secondary to the outer regions of the keyboard spread, and that the subtleties and phrasings of the quiet moments are not as stunning as one would expect. But those are chances inherently taken in producing a recording of this type.

For this listener, Rusnak feels more at home in the more richly colorful Opus 25 Etudes (witness the staggering No. 1 in A flat major of Opus 25) than in the earlier Opus 10. Yet having stated that there are few pianists who phrase the E flat minor Andante (No. 6 from Opus 10) with the straightforward elegance Rusnak displays. Noting that this recording was made in 1997 can only make us wish we knew how Rusnak has grown into this challenging body of piano music in the interim: one would expect the early thoughts here suggest even finer performances now.

But the original praise for this fine album holds. This is Chopin played by an obviously devoted pianist in a setting historically correct - and in that setting these Etudes ring with conviction and a fine degree of precision and heart that is too often lost in the computerized renditions available form the big name pianists. Grady Harp, August 06

John Rusnak's newest CD, in what I hope will be a long line of releases, is truly a rare and gifted artist. John plays with unique passion and a stylistic, sincerely reverent nuance rare in most classical piano recordings today. Not since Glenn Gould have we had an opportunity to experience the Piano played with such expertise, finesse and grace (like Gould, I could swear I hear John singing along). More importantly Chopin's etudes have never been heard so brilliantly crafted or styled, to this listeners ear, ever. I am confident in saying "If he could hear his music, as it is played by John Rusnak, I know Chopin himself would have loved it".

John Rusnak is one of the most talented pianists of our time. He's interpretation of Chopin is refreshing and I would recommend his work to anyone looking for an exciting musical journey. Thank you John mgpesta@aol.com

John Rusnak hit it perfectly. Beautiful flow to his playing and precision that excites the ear. A wonderful talent that I hope we will be able to hear a great deal more from!

John Rusnak's playing is very inspiring. His playing captures a vast array of color, and his phrasing feels so natural and smooth. He really gives the music a life of its own. He manages to make fresh and interesting what most pianinst continue to make stiff and rigid. This CD is defenitiley a must have in anyones collection. I look forward to future works by such a wonderful talent

Mr. Rusnak's technique is strong and fine, and his love for the music is very much in evidence. Give it (and his new "Bach Goldberg Variations") a listen!

I am a Russian musician, and I believe that musical etudes of European romanticist couldn`t be expressed better than in the performance of John Rusnak. Unique and yet universal understanding of it smashed my accustomed perception of classic art. There was a strange feeling of images coming alive and dragging me into this world of thoroughly hidden emotions, listening to CD I had a "creepy sensation" of Fryderyk Chopin himself telling out in musical passages his life confessions...and there was no choice for escape!!! Great...