Shura Cherkassky - The complete 78rpm recordings 1923-1950
APR 7316 (APR, CD, 3 discs)
ADD
COMPILATION (8 September 2023)
Playing time: 63'05"/66'28"/65'32" - TT 195'05"
Tracks: 16 + 21 + 11
Booklet pages: 12
℗ 2023 Appian Publications and Recordings Ltd
© 2023 Appian Publications and Recordings Ltd
Main country of recording: United States of America
Country of manufacture: United Kingdom
Reviewer: Gordon Rumson
Review of Shura Cherkassky - The complete 78rpm recordings 1923-1950 published on 9 February 2024
Shura Cherkassky, piano
Marcel Hubert, cello (CD1 track 13)
Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra (CD3 tracks 1-3)
Jacques Rachmilovich, conductor (CD3 tracks 1-3)
Ludwig van Beethoven:
1 Six Ecossaises in E flat major, WoO 83 (acoustic version)
Felix Mendelssohn:
2 Prelude in E minor, Op 35 No 1 (acoustic version)
3 Scherzo in E minor, Op 16 No 2 (acoustic version)
Shura Cherkassky:
4 Prélude Pathétique (acoustic version)
Felix Mendelssohn:
5 Song without Words, Op 19b No 3 in A, 'Hunting Song'
Fryderyk Chopin:
6 Waltz No 14 in E minor, Op post, KKIVa:15, B 56
Rameau/Godowsky:
7 Tambourin ('Renaissance' Book 1, No 6)
Mana-Zucca:
8 Prelude, Op 73
`
Ludwig van Beethoven:
9 Six Ecossaises in E flat major, WoO 83 (electric version)
Felix Mendelssohn:
10 Prelude for piano in E minor, Op 35 No 1 (electric version)
11 Scherzo in E minor, Op 16 No 2 (electric version)
Shura Cherkassky:
12 Prélude Pathétique (electric version)
Sergei Rachmaninov:
Cello Sonata in G minor, Op 19
13 Lento - Allegro moderato
14 Allegro scherzando
15 Andante
16 Allegro mosso
CD2
Mikhail Glinka:
1 Tarantella in A minor
Vladimir Rebikov:
2 Waltz from Yolka (the Christmas Tree), Op 21
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:
3 October (The Seasons, Op 37b: No 10)
Anatoly Liadov:
4 A Musical Snuffbox, Op 32
Alexander Scriabin:
5 Prelude in C sharp minor for the left hand, Op 9 No 1
Nikolai Medtner:
6 Skazka (Fairy Tale), Op 34 No 2 in E minor
Sergei Prokofiev:
7 Suggestion diabolique, Op 4 No 4
Aram Khachaturian:
8 Toccata in E flat minor
Dmitri Shostakovich:
9 Prelude in C sharp minor, Op 34 No 10
10 Prelude in D, Op 34 No 5
Franz Liszt:
11 Hungarian Rhapsody in E minor, 'Héroïde-élégiaque', S 244/5
12 Hungarian Rhapsody in D flat, S 244/6
13 Hungarian Rhapsody in A minor, S 244/11
14 Hungarian Rhapsody in A minor, 'Rákóczi-Marsch', S 244/15
15 Gnomenreigen, S145 No 2
Fryderyk Chopin:
16 Polonaise in A Flat major, Op 53
Behr / Rachmaninov:
17 Polka de W R
Francis Poulenc:
18 Toccata (No 3 from Trois pièces pour piano)
Morton Gould:
Prelude and Toccata
19 Prelude
20 Toccata
21 Boogie Woogie Etude
CD3
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:
Piano Concerto No 2 in G, Op 44
1 Allegro Brillante e molto vivace
2 Andante non troppo
3 Allegro con fuoco
Fryderyk Chopin:
4 Nocturne in E minor, Op 72 No 1
5 Mazurka in D, Op 33 No 2
6 Etude In C sharp minor, Op 10 No 4
7 Fantasy in F minor, Op 49
Camille Saint-Saëns:
Prélude and Fugue in F minor (No 3 from Six Études, Op 52)
8 Prélude
9 Fugue
Franz Liszt:
10 Consolation No 3 in E flat, S 172/3
Cécile Chaminade:
11 Autrefois (No 4 from Pièces Humoristiques, Op 87)
In his later years, Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995) was regarded as one of the last 'Romantics' - a throwback to the so-called 'golden age' of pianism in the first decades of the twentieth century. As a pupil of Josef Hofmann, he had an impeccable pedigree, but we tend to forget his long career meant he was already playing and recording in that 'golden age'. Here then are these early recordings, complete for the first time, starting in the acoustic era with the young prodigy's 1923 Victor discs. Much of the repertoire is unique in his discography, including his only recording of chamber music - the Rachmaninov cello sonata. The Tchaikovsky 2nd Concerto, Cherkassky's earliest concerto recording, has never previously been reissued and reveals the thirty-six-year-old artist at his virtuoso peak.