This is an excellent
conspectus of Cherkassky’s pianism but
the first thing to note is that the
title isn’t quite right. Some of the
recordings actually come from sessions
in the 1950s; some from a 1950 collection
of Chopin pieces (7ER 5142 – see the
notes for clarification of the recording
details and the pieces concerned) others
from as late as 1958. Capricious and
devilish though he might seem, not everything
here is touched with his characteristic
naughtiness – certainly not in relation
to his recitals in the 1980s when things
could be taken to the edge of caricature
– and many a time beyond it with his
reshaping and reversals of dynamic markings
et al. Many derive from HMV,
Vox and Swedish Cupol discs and they
are welcome back into the discographic
fold.
Here we have some virtuoso
repertoire delivered with panache. His
Saint-Saëns has real drive and
the sole Rachmaninov is witty and charming.
His Chaminade – I don’t associate him
at all with her salon confections –
is nevertheless not simply ripplingly
pliant but also curiously moving. The
Brahms Sonata is an uncommon recording
and though it’s rather embedded intractably
in the first of the two CDs we should
be grateful as it furnishes us with
evidence of his playing of a heavyweight
romantic sonata. His playing here is
dramatic but very personalised, as befits
an exemplar of romantic affiliations.
Some of the voicings will certainly
not be to all tastes and though there
is no want of drama his Scherzo strikes
me as somewhat frivolous. The fugal
episode in the finale however is finely
done. His Liszt Rhapsodies are cavalier
and imposing; the first disc as a whole
summing up the strengths and limitations
of his pianism in no uncertain terms.
The second disc features
a great deal of Chopin and a series
of lighter things that were grist to
Cherkassky’s mill. His Medtner contrasts
sharply with the composer’s own performance.
Medtner’s Op. 34 No. 2 Fairy Tale is
full of his characteristic drive and
linearity whereas Cherkassky’s is more
discursive, constantly inflecting and
highlighting and pointing inner voicings.
There’s no stopping the Prokofiev and
his Tchaikovsky Autumn Song reveals
a wonderful facet of his musicality
– a kind of bel canto singing line that
banishes all objections when it’s deployed
with such colour, ardour and beauty
of line as it is here. His Chopin is
not as objectionable as some might anticipate
knowing what we do of his later self.
I think even more ascetic-minded listeners
might even revel in Cherkassky’s colour
and sense of line, his natural sounding
response to them. The Impromptu in F
sharp is especially beautiful.
There’s a fine booklet
with excellent photographs and the transfers
sound to have dealt effectively with
some of the more troublesome aspects
of the original recordings. His tonal
and timbral variety comes through; his
glint and colour is all there. As is,
yes, his Morton Gould. Many of the pieces
here are short etude type or encore
pieces. But the show-stopping Gould
pieces as ever sum up his vivacity and
sheer downright unusualness.
Jonathan Woolf