Shura Cherkassky: The Ambassador Auditorium Recitals, 1981-1989 – First Hand Records FHR 99 (5 CDs = 74:07; 71:06; 72:19; 53:26: 46:33 = 317 mins) (1/15/24) [Distr. by Naxos] *****
To many audiophiles and students of great keyboard artistry, the name of Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995) immediately raises impressions of virtually the last of the “Golden Age” pianists, a master colorist capable of raising new and intricate harmonies from pieces long discarded as conventional, while never abandoning a fresh, childlike attitude to new, broadening repertory. To quote one critic’s assessment of Cherkassky: “His audiences were invariably capacity ones, liberally peppered with pianists who shook their heads in disbelief at that extraordinary blend of charm, elfin mischievousness and transcendental pianism.” The performances captured here, from Pasadena, California, occur in the latter days of a spectacular career, when finger slips and musical lapses may be detected, but they do not distract from the items at hand, in which style and color inflection remain pre-eminent. Recall that Cherkassky’s great instructor, Josef Hofmann, most impressed upon his star pupil the quality of sonic beauty of tone, the pearly clarity of articulation of evenly shaped phraseology.
The Ambassador Auditorium – a venue that gave us recorded recitals by the under-rated and under-represented Jakob Gimpel – preserved the Cherkassky concerts for archival purposes, begin the series of four with a rarity, an all-Chopin program from 28 April 1981. The imperious opening chords of the 1835 Ballade No. 1 in G Minor lead us to a thoughtful, intimately passionate reading of a work whose Neapolitan harmonies make it a complement, emotionally, to Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata. Lyrical and dramatic at once, the reading keeps us spellbound by the variety of palette hues and sonorous nuances. The popular, leisurely Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 9/2 charms us and serves as elegant lead-in to his perennial trump card among the Chopin Nocturnes, the 1844 F Minor, Op. 55/1, a virtual study in graduated dynamics and kaleidoscopic pigments. Cherkassky will grace us with one more nocturne from 1832, that in B Minor, Op. 9/3, the first of his two encores. The easy suasion of the reading might belie the metric subtlety applied here, the enchantments hidden among the ornamental flowers.
The three large pieces of the recital – the Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise brillante in E-flat Major, Op. 22; the Fantasie in F Minor, Op. 49; and the Scherzo No.2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 31 – the Op. 22 a clear evocation of master Hofmann, with dragonfly touches that feature a flexibly expressive right hand over an opulent, left-hand support. The stop-on-the-time periods testify to a singular performance tradition. The regal Polonaise beguiles us with evocative curlicues and seamless transitions of the dance impulse. The last chords invoke a rousing audience response. The dire opening of the expansive, 1841 Fantasie casts us into a solemnly tragic moment not initially alleviated by the glittering, right hand runs; however, the hymnal, middle section in B major allows Cherkassky the opportunity to showcase his ravishing, introspective singing voice. The militant counterpoints of the final pages resonate in Cherkassky Technicolor. The 1837 Scherzo No. 2 has had brilliant performance by the likes of Rubinstein, Horowitz, Michelangeli, and this Cherkassky reading among them. This vaulting work, considered “Byronic” by Schumann, unleashes Cherkassky’s stunning fortes without any loss of patrician taste or dramatic continuity. The singing lines in D-flat brim with poetic affection. The final pages, volatile and superheated, resonate long after the double bar.
Diverse musical styles mark the second recital, that of 13 January 1982, opening with a five-movement Suite of Pieces by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Delicacy of touch and studied, galant taste characterize Cherkassky’s playing, devout and gently articulate. The Air tendre perfectly captures the ambiance of the occasion. The Courante rivals Glenn Gould for precise, quick staccato inflection. The Sarabande assumes the character of a (Spanish) church processional, infiltrated by syncopations. The Gigue scurries in haste, jocular and rustic, a strong candidate to have influenced J.S. Bach. More brilliant charm follows in the form of Felix Mendelssohn’s 1835 Scherzo a capriccio in F# Minor, another of his hearty conversations with Shakespeare sprites. Cherkassky seems a mite percussive to my taste, the pedal overly emphatic.
The Grand Sonata in G Major, Op. 37 by Tchaikovsky is a work of 1878, published in tandem with The Months suite. Neither Sviatoslav Richter nor Shura Cherkassky seems capable of rescuing this attempt at “German form” by the Russian composer from its innate lackluster. What does become evident in Cherkassky’s rendition is the orchestral ambition of the writing, which constantly pounds out huge chord clusters in various barrages of stultifying sound. Even the E minor second movement, Andante non troppo moderato, cannot reveal a redemptive melody. The hectic third movement, Scherzo: Allegro giocoso, looks back to Schumann and ahead to Scriabin. The last movement Finale: Allegro vivace continues the assault, and so asserts the composer’s demand for technical virtuosity bereft of melodic inspiration.
Happily, the recital resumes with two more major Chopin opera, the 1846 hybrid Polonaise-fantasie in A-flat Major, Op. 61 and the Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52 (1843). Close miking has the agogics of the Op. 61 already redolent with adumbrations of the later Polonaise, Cherkassky’s bass tones lushly sonorous. The passing counterpoints of the dance enjoy no less a fulsome sonority. The arpeggios and runs cascade in glowing colors, with a ensuing, melodic contour sensuously rich. The Fourth Ballade never ceases to amaze in its panoply of dramatic colors, ranging from soft, opening Gs to the insane rush that defines the coda, all in response to a melodramatic poem “The Three Budrys” by Adam Michiewicz. Cherkassky milks the emergent, seven-measure F minor melody, 6/8, with etched care. The Bach influence in fugal transitions inundates the evolving course of the piece, including some minor key dissonances and permutations of the main melody. Between measures 198 to 202 we are in full, manic propulsion, moving to a coda of mad acceleration that suddenly concludes, sans the well-earned applause.
The first four tracks of Disc 3 continue the recital of 13 January 1982, beginning with master Josef Hofmann’s quirky moment of bravura, his often-programmed (by Cherkassky) Kaleidoskop, Op. 40 (1908). Another extended virtuoso piece, Liszt’s 1841 Réminiscences de de Don Juan, appears in a mesmerizing account whose innate sensuousness pales the rival, commercial account by Charles Rosen, whose approach remains sturdily intellectual. The Zerlina-Don Giovanni love duet unfolds with flirtatious intimations then evolves into a stunning, polyphonic tour de force. The mighty flight into the Champagne Aria rockets through, ending as the piece had begun, with the D minor threats of the Commendatore, his insistence of the Don’s damnation. Cherkassky’s magical handling of Liszt’s demanding chromatics seems effortless, thunderous runs, the tenths and huge leaps all a matter of digital convenience. Without calling the final two pieces “encores,” we get Cherkassky’s own, impassioned Prélude pathétique (1922) and a repeat (from 29 April 1981) of Chopin’s 1840 2/4 Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 42. Only three seconds longer than the prior account, this one merits the huge audience appreciation.
With track 5, we begin the ambitious recital of 13 November 1987, likely the most musically rewarding of the entire set. César Franck’s 1884 Prélude, Choral et Fugue announces a thoughtful, “vertical” realization, rich in harmonic subtleties. The intricately cyclic piece proceeds into a resonantly intimate Choral and then a firmly clear evocation of Franck’s fugal counterpoint. What follows becomes a noble, aristocratic rendition of Robert Schumann’s familiar 1834-45 Carnaval, those “little scenes on four notes” that traverse whole, interior and social worlds of the composer as well as characters from the Renaissance commedia dell’arte. A haughty Preambule alerts us to an imposing, serious-minded approach to Schumann’s cast of characters, each inflected with stylistic aplomb. Rarely has Pierrot tripped so cautiously, ripe with expectation. The Valse noble proves aptly named. Florestan, with his touches from the earlier Papillons, reminds us that the Op. 2 set also goes by the designation “Dance of the Masks.” If Chiarina and Chopin sing with an expressiveness on a par with Robert Casadesus, Paganini fiddles with a demonic flair we wish Horowitz had bequeathed us. An elegant Promenade leads to the “pregnant,” whirlwind Pause, and to the colossal, “political” March of the Davids-League Against the Philistines, perhaps Cherkassky’s proclamation to all doubters. An irresistible momentum of aesthetic righteousness thrusts us forward to a stunning peroration, leaving us a half-minute of ecstatic audience appreciation.
Disc 4 extends the musical delights of 18 November, opening with Rachmaninoff’s 1931 Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42. Based on the ancient tune La Folia, the Rachmaninoff twenty variants indulge in any number of clever, often contrapuntal permutations, a combination of Liszt pyrotechnics in bouncing octaves and Bach melodic and harmonic sophistication. The next “new” piece, Chopin’s marvelous Barcarolle in F# Major of 1846, follows Cherkassky’s “signature” Chopin F minor Nocturne, Op. 55/1, and so provides an evocatively warm diptych of poetic and softly dramatic lyricism.
Cherkassky’s rendition of Franz Liszt’s Valse de l’opera Faust de Gounod (1861) will rival, in the minds of many an auditor, the best moments from virtuoso pianist Gyorgy Cziffra. Exuberant panache and vocalized colors tumble from every measure, a sheer delight in keyboard antics in applied rubato that we will experience once more on 2 November 1989, in Liszt’s ever-popular Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Three encores conclude: Albéniz’s 1890 Tango in D (arr. Godowsky); Rachmaninoff’s 1911 Polka de W.R.; and Tchaikovsky’s “Autumn,” No. 10 from The Seasons (1876). The Godowsky 1921 arrangement sashays provocatively, and the piece appears once more on 2 November 1989. A hint of circus pomp inhabits the Rachmaninoff’s Polka in A-flat major, named in honor of his father, Wassily. Tchaikovsky’s “Autumn Song” has an appeal his Grand Sonata lacks, this miniature a ternary piece of sentimental charm.
The final recital, 2 November 1989 remains the most brief, an account of the elision of the first two movements from Robert Schumann’s monumental C Major Fantasie (1838) due to technical problems. Intended as a contribution to a Bonn memorial to Beethoven, the piece, dedicated to Franz Liszt, stands out for its allusions to Beethoven’s Sonata in A, Op. 101 and the Moonlight Sonata, especially in this last movement, that Cherkassky delivers in sublimely chaste but passionate fashion. Disc No. 5 opens with the popular Air and Variations, “The Harmonious Blacksmith,” from Handel’s Suite No. 5 in E Major (1720). A polished wit suffuses this tender rendition, the ornaments and grace notes judiciously applied.
More from Tchaikovsky, here, the “Original Theme and Variations,” the last entry from 6 Morceaux, Op. 19 (1873), an effective study in F major, ¾, with variants in diverse colors. The supreme Tchaikovsky acolyte, Sergei Rachmaninoff, appears once more with his Op. 10/3 “Barcarolle in G Minor” from 7 Morceaux. More of an episodic study-piece than a gondola song, the composition adumbrates several of the later Études-Tableaux. Liszt’s once-ubiquitous Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C# Minor will rival the other great performers in this dual-affective work, moving from the slow (lassu) to the brisk (friss) section in angular moods informed by gypsy scales. Once the familiar, animated section opens, the Cherkassky capacity for individual personality bursts froth, rife with rubato and accented touches of sterling wit and incisive attacks. When monumentality seems appropriate, Cherkassky summons it as easily as he commands diaphanous clarity. Both Liszt and the audience have been well in hand, the latter erupting with appreciative vigor. The same Albéniz Tango encore appears as it had 18 November 1987, just as languorous. Finally, a bit of Italianate dance from Chopin, his 1841 Tarantelle in A-flat Major, Op. 43. A moto perpetuo in Presto tempo, it tests wrist stamina and fluid articulation, traits Cherkassky demonstrates to universal admiration.
Looking for a pianophile’s Christmas Holidays gift? This is it.
–Gary Lemco
Shura Cherkassky: The Ambassador Auditorium Recitals
29 APRIL 1981
CD1 [74:09]
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810–1849)
01. Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
02. Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2
03. Nocturne No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55, No. 1
04–05. Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante in E flat major, Op. 22
06. Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49
07. Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp major, Op. 36
08. Fantaisie-impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66
09. Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31
Encores:
10. Nocturne No. 3 in B major, Op. 9, No. 3
11. Waltz No. 5 in A flat major, Op. 42, ‘Grande valse’
13 JANUARY 1982
CD2 [71:06]
Jean-Baptiste LULLY (1632–1687)
01–05. Suite de Pièces
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)
06. Scherzo a Capriccio in F sharp minor, Op. 5
Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
07–10. Grand Sonata in G major, Op. 37
Frédéric CHOPIN
11. Polonaise No. 7 in A flat major, Op. 61, ‘Polonaise-fantaisie’
12. Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
CD3 [72:19]
Józef (Josef) HOFMANN (1876–1957)
Charakterskizzen, Op. 40 (1908)
01. No. 4. Kaleidoskop
Franz LISZT (1811–1886)
02. Réminiscences de Don Juan, S418 (1841)
Encores:
Shura CHERKASSKY (1909–1995)
03. Prélude pathétique (1922)
Frédéric CHOPIN
04. Waltz No. 5 in A flat major, Op. 42, ‘Grande valse’ (1840)
Recorded 18 NOVEMBER 1987
César FRANCK (1822–1890)
05–07. Prélude, Choral et Fugue, M. 21 (1884)
Robert SCHUMANN (1810–1856)
08–28. Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834–35)
Interval
CD4 [53:26]
Sergey RACHMANINOV (1873–1943)
01. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 (1931)
Józef (Josef) HOFMANN
Charakterskizzen, Op. 40 (1908)
02. No. 4. Kaleidoskop
Frédéric CHOPIN
03. Nocturne No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55, No. 1 (1844)
04. Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60 (1846)
Franz LISZT
05. Valse de l’opéra Faust de Gounod, S407/R166 (1861)
Encores:
Isaac ALBÉNIZ (1860–1909)
España, Op. 165 (1890)
06. II. Tango (arr. 1921 Leopold GODOWSKY (1870–1938))
RACHMANINOV
07. Polka de W.R.
(arr. of Lachtäubchen, Scherzpolka, Op. 303 by Franz BEHR, 1837–1898)
Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY
The Seasons, Op. 37a (1876)
08. No. 10. October: Autumn Song
Recorded 2 NOVEMBER 1989
CD5 [46:05]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685–1759)
01. Keyboard Suite No. 5 in E Major, HWV 430 (1720): IV. Air and Variations, ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’
Robert SCHUMANN
Fantasy in C major, Op. 17 (1838)
02. III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten
Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY
06 Morceaux, Op. 19 (1873)
03. VI. Thème original et variations
Sergey RACHMANINOV
7 Morceaux de salon, Op. 10 (1894)
04. III. Barcarolle in G minor
Franz LISZT
05. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C sharp minor, S244/R106 (1847)
Encores:
Isaac ALBÉNIZ
España, Op. 165 (1890)
06. II. Tango (arr. 1921 Leopold GODOWSKY (1870–1938))
Frédéric CHOPIN
07. Tarentelle in A flat major, Op. 43 (1841)
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