Customer Reviews

Russian Piano School

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

 

 

Sofronitsky's style may be a little bit bland for my taste but the mood and atmosphere he creates is phenomenal!!! Must listen his rendition of the b minor Schrezo. Absolutly great. Never has anyone made this piece seem ever so more alive and filled with anguish.

Excellent recordings in Moscow in 1950s, almost as good as any modern recording!

Sofronitsky ranks almost on par with Rachmaninoff: both are deeply heart-felt, both are very poetic. The only difference is, with Rachmaninoff we have "a heart of gold" which is most nostalgic, and with Sofronitski we have a princely nobility so full of fragrance. Both Richter and Gilels regarded Sofronitsky their idol, not just Horowitz.

With much regret, both Rachmaninoff and Sofronitsky are extinct now. Horowitz, Richter, Gilels each reminiscent of a few facets of either of them and by doing so each had won himself enormous fortune and fame...

Highly recommended for those who are prepared go behind the manipulation of commercialism into the magic of breathing life into music plus the art of instilling nobility and fragrance into life.

The two current reviews are preposterous. To begin with - this CD consists of recordings made directly after World War II, and some are among the worst piano recordings I have had the displeasure to hear. The 1946 ones actually sound like a miniature honkey-tonk piano recorded inside a diving bell. Things improve a bit with the later ones - however, they can not be recommended. Harris Goldsmith has the perfect name for this sort of piano sound, " 'zongora', the Hungarian word for piano, conveys the clonky, percussive tone". Fortes are hideous, and in several of these recordings I simply could not listen - so atrocious did the left hand at any volume become.

I also must point out that there is no Chopin Scherzo here, but a Mazurka, and a slovenly played one at that - the pianist insists on ignoring Chopin's markings and gives us Mazurkas that are far too broadly conceived. (For anyone wishing to hear the proper way to play these pieces, consider Kapell, or Rubinstein, or, from ancient times, but in better recorded sound than several of these, Friedman.) Most of the praise of the two other reviewers is simply fabulous. Sadly, other fans of this pianist also seem unaware of how critical in the Mazurkas is the integration and clarity of the details - without a keen rhythmic intelligence these highly tuned works turn sentimental.

Perhaps the closest thing to reasonable sound is given to Sofronitzky in the 1950 Chopin E flat Nocturne. Here the pianist reveals glimpses of why he is given such consideration. The Schumann Papillions are played with a real sense for that composer's style, and in a serious and intense performance of the Schubert Impromptu in C minor he showcases his gift for eliciting a cantabile line from the barest of melodic fragments. Both of these, though, are let down by some very poor sound.

My suggestion for anyone curious about hearing Sofronitzky is to look for later recording dates and CDs spelling his name with a 'zky' instead of a 'sky'. You will have to search Amazon for the name spelled 'Sofronitsky' if you wish to locate the largest number of options. I would be very careful before buying any early examples of these live Russian recordings!

The Mazurkas properly played can be heard on any of the following Cds,
1. Chopin: Mazurkas
2. Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 6
3. Ignaz Friedman: Complete Recordings, Vol. 3

All of these recordings are examples of older sound that CAN be appreciated, the Kapell from about the same time as the Russian recordings of Sofronitzky, the Rubinstein from the late thirties, and the Friedman recordings from way back in 1930. I suggest these not only for their exalted artistic quality, but as proof I do not automatically disqualify old recordings merely for their sound!

The Sofronitzky's, many live performances recorded under poor conditions, simply sound bad even when compared to recordings made twenty years earlier. As Sofronitzky was not fond of studio recordings his recorded legacy consists largely of 'live' performances, with all the pitfalls that go with such things. At this point in time, and despite Sofronitsky's stupendous readings of Scirabin, I am unaware of a recording of his that is not seriously limited by the sound - usually hopeless over-reverberation. The Arbiter recording of Scriabin is a perfect case in point - great playing, but the echo effects are maddening and eventually give me a headache. Can anyone out there among his fans make a suggestion of a better recording of this artist?