Rubinstein Piano Concerto No. 4, etc
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Moritz Moszkowski, Camille Saint-Saëns, Cécile (Louise Stèphanie) Chaminade, Leopold Godowsky, Franz Schubert, Anton (Grigor'yevich) Rubinstein, Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Label: Decca
Magazine Review Date: 3/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
ADD
Catalogue Number: 448 063-2DH
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 |
Anton (Grigor'yevich) Rubinstein, Composer
Anton (Grigor'yevich) Rubinstein, Composer Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Shura Cherkassky, Piano Vladimir Ashkenazy, Conductor |
| Symphonic Metamorphosis of Wein, Weib und Gesang |
Leopold Godowsky, Composer
Leopold Godowsky, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| (Le) Carnaval des animaux, 'Carnival of the Animals', Movement: The swan |
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| (4) Waltz-poems |
Leopold Godowsky, Composer
Leopold Godowsky, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| (6) Moments musicaux, Movement: No. 3 in F minor |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| Triakontameron, Movement: Alt Wien (Old Vienna) |
Leopold Godowsky, Composer
Leopold Godowsky, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| (2) Melodies, Movement: F |
Anton (Grigor'yevich) Rubinstein, Composer
Anton (Grigor'yevich) Rubinstein, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| (6) Morceaux, Movement: No. 4, Nocturne in C sharp minor |
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| (3) Miniatures, Movement: Valse |
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Composer
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| (6) Pièces humoristiques, Movement: No. 4, Autrefois |
Cécile (Louise Stèphanie) Chaminade, Composer
Cécile (Louise Stèphanie) Chaminade, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
| Caprice espagnole |
Moritz Moszkowski, Composer
Moritz Moszkowski, Composer Shura Cherkassky, Piano |
Author: Bryce Morrison
This recording complements Cherkassky’s 1994 studio performance of Rubinstein’s Fourth Piano Concerto (made when he was 85) with a selection of ‘encores’ from “Kaleidoscope”, his first L’Oiseau-Lyre/Decca LP made in 1974. All these performances now achieve an added poignancy given Cherkassky’s recent death and make one ask, what other pianist possessed so succulent or teasing a sense of sophistication? Every glistening strand of Godowsky’s Wein, Weib und Gesang, his polyphonic, poly-rhythmic maze, is highlighted with uncanny virtuoso resource, and even Sir Clifford Curzon – that incomparable Schubertian – would surely have smiled rather than frowned over Cherkassky’s Schubert-Godowsky, an arrangement he abhorred. Glazunov’s Valse in D is spun off with a delicate, vertiginous brilliance entirely Cherkassky’s own and Chaminade’s Autrefois, a charming pastiche, repeats an early and legendary success on an HMV 78 (2/51).
Then there is Rubinstein’s Fourth Concerto, a favourite of Joseph Hofmann (Cherkassky’s mentor during his student days in America) and another work for long at the centre of Cherkassky’s affections. That august publication, The Record Guide (Collins: 1951) may have offered a sniping estimate (“the swelling introduction promises great things, but what emerges is perhaps only a rather large mouse”) but played with Cherkassky’s musical commitment even the most outwardly conventional gestures take wing. A passing sense of frailty is instantly erased by Cherkassky’s tip-toe delicacy in the whirlwind finale, by a shot-silk tonal finesse in the central Andante, and by a capacity to take all the time in the world to make his points, whether piquantly or expressively. Ashkenazy’s partnership with his quicksilver soloist could hardly be more sympathetic and the recordings capture Cherkassky’s tonal bloom and colour to perfection.
However, if I were to pick just one item from this entrancing selection it would have to be Godowsky’s “Alt Wien”, a potent evocation of the past yet one that, in Cherkassky’s hands, somehow transcends time and place. There is, incidentally, much more to come from Decca, a tantalizing surprise from Biddulph and, hopefully, reissues of DG’s 1955-6 Tchaikovsky First and Second Concertos as well as transfers of the aforementioned HMV 78s.'
Then there is Rubinstein’s Fourth Concerto, a favourite of Joseph Hofmann (Cherkassky’s mentor during his student days in America) and another work for long at the centre of Cherkassky’s affections. That august publication, The Record Guide (Collins: 1951) may have offered a sniping estimate (“the swelling introduction promises great things, but what emerges is perhaps only a rather large mouse”) but played with Cherkassky’s musical commitment even the most outwardly conventional gestures take wing. A passing sense of frailty is instantly erased by Cherkassky’s tip-toe delicacy in the whirlwind finale, by a shot-silk tonal finesse in the central Andante, and by a capacity to take all the time in the world to make his points, whether piquantly or expressively. Ashkenazy’s partnership with his quicksilver soloist could hardly be more sympathetic and the recordings capture Cherkassky’s tonal bloom and colour to perfection.
However, if I were to pick just one item from this entrancing selection it would have to be Godowsky’s “Alt Wien”, a potent evocation of the past yet one that, in Cherkassky’s hands, somehow transcends time and place. There is, incidentally, much more to come from Decca, a tantalizing surprise from Biddulph and, hopefully, reissues of DG’s 1955-6 Tchaikovsky First and Second Concertos as well as transfers of the aforementioned HMV 78s.'
Rubinstein Piano Concerto No. 4, etc
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