I had the privilege
of hearing and seeing Shura Cherkassky live in 1995 at the Cheltenham
Festival, 6 July, 8 pm: yes, I still have the ticket. Even at
well over 80 years of age he was playing Bartók, Berio and Lennox
Berkeley, and as those Decca recital discs from the early 1990s
show, his programming was almost invariably fascinating and
adventurous. The luminous tone and intriguingly individual musicality
is clearly audible even on this set of 1960s mono recordings,
and although the treble is rather on the muffled side there
is no real hesitation in recommending this as an historical
document of ‘the last of the great romantics’ in his prime.
The Harmonious
Blacksmith variations by Handel is a nicely played, straightforward
introduction which pairs nicely with the Brahms’ Variations
and Fugue on a Theme by Handel. Cherkassky’s subtle and
sometimes less-subtle pedalling turns this work into something
of a tour-de-force at times, but with quicksilver contrasts,
energetically rhythmic playing and some beautifully lyrical
moments it is easy to overlook any of those mannerisms which
made a pianist friend of mine once say, “you can’t play
it like that, you just can’t…”
Cherkassky’s accounts
of the Berg Sonata Op.1 became something akin to legendary,
and with this recording one can understand why. His poetic but
unfussy approach emphasises the introvert, intimate side of
the piece, and makes it sound like an extended improvisation.
Nikos Skalkottas is a new name to me, but it seems he wrote
over 150 works in his tragically short life. The 15 Little
Variations are attractive miniatures despite having an angularly
serial feel, but with some jazzy chords and rhythms in which
Cherkassky clearly revels. Prokofiev’s Toccata has a
springy, jumping quality in Cherkassky’s hands in this session.
There is little
difference in the sound quality with the slightly later recording
of Chopin’s Piano Sonata No.3. One of Chopin’s musically
most challenging scores for piano, Cherkassky wends his way
effortlessly through the twists and turns in the piece, musing
thoughtfully, facing up to danger and falling in love wherever
the music so takes him. The extended Largo is the high
point of this work, with the ambulatory lines flowing with eloquent
restraint. If you like the Dinu Lipatti ‘sound’ then you will
almost certainly appreciate Cherkassky in this music, even if
his overall view is more anarchic.
This is an intriguing
document: not all things to all people, but certainly showing
a great pianist at work on some significant repertoire at the
mid point of a vastly long career. With a few fluffs and imperfections
the overall impression is that of a live recital, and that of
one not so very different from the 80+ artist whose repertoire
had become such a vast fund of the new and the weird and wonderful
that his musicianship seemed forever youthful.
Dominy Clements
Shura Cherkassky
(piano)
