Search - Frederic Chopin, Nikolai Lugansky :: Chopin: Études

Technique galore but something is missing; cold and aloof

John Grabowski | USA | 02/20/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Recently, on a Chopin Etude binge, I dove back into my collection and reacquainted myself with the recordings of the great Alfred Cortot (1934) on EMI. Despite a few finger slips here and there (this was before tape editing after all, and Cortot was no technical superman to start with) I'd have to give those readings a high ranking, because they are in fact *readings.* They have personality. Then I put on the present CD. The Etudes here are note-perfect but too faceless, too generic, for my taste. There are fine moments in the Lugansky performances, but overall they're a lot like Americanized Chinese food--not bad at all, but they pass through you and are forgotten. Luggie needs to develop a personality to match his technique, at least in this repertoire.



Chopin Etudes have been a frustration because there are so few complete recordings of them (even such giants as Rubinstein and Horowitz were afraid of them) and those that exist disappoint. Probably the most famous to readers here will be Pollini's, a very rough-and-tumble account with monotonous pedaling and little if any coloration. These works are in many different emotions and hues, but Pollini sees them all as granite.



Other sets are also a letdown. Zayas is bland and middle of the road; Cherkassky is stiff (at least in his GPof20thC series); Samson Francois ditto. Perahia has some strange ideas in how they should be played, and his emotions sound grafted on to me, though some people rave. Browning is just mediocre, with wobbly technique and stale drama. A good set of Etudes is hard to find. The definitive set doesn't yet exist.



Luganksy is a Russian virtuoso who's been taking the world by storm lately. He seems to overcome the hurdles in these works as if they were insignificant. There's no point in even discussing his technique here--it's beyond criticism.



But musical understanding is another matter. In some of these works I feel he skates over the music, nos. 9 and 11 from Op. 10 being two prime examples. In the former he reaches one of my favorite moments in all of Chopin, measure 29--and does nothing with it. The next measure is marked pp, yet he barely goes down to p. A few measures later, at the second statement of the idea in m. 29, the score is marked appassionato. If this is as appassionato as Luggie gets, he must be a cold date. This is one of the most heart-rending moments in all of Chopin, but he glosses over it.



Two Etudes later we have a problem with, to my ears, monotony. I have a sneaking suspicion that's what Chopin was really testing for in this Etude--the ability to play it with variety, even though what must be played is very rigid. An impish sense of humor and a slight feeling of kitsch helps, as Richter demonstrates in a slightly hurried live performance from Prague dated July 1988. At measure 44 the score is marked "dolcissimo," which is "extremely sweetly" for those who may have forgotten their high school Spanish or Italian. I don't hear any sweetness in Lugansky's cool reading. In the great No. 11 from Op. 25, listen to the impetuous drive from Richter again, or even Pollini. Lugansky has more control but less *command.* There is a difference. Again, the score is marked "risoluto," but Lugs doesn't convince me. Just before the recap in that Etude, listen to how Richter handles measures 65-58, compared to Lugansky. Both play the notes as though they were easy (and that in itself is hair-raising) but Richter understands dramatically how crucial this moment is to the successful re-entry of the main theme, so its return sounds like a momentous and inevitable event. Lugansky fails to grasp the drama. The same is true when one compares their No. 12 of Op. 25. Lugansky's phrasing starts to sound monotonous; Richter twists and turns the color, shading and expressivity, revealing many sides of Chopin's marvelous music.



There are some extraordinary moments. One that stands out most in my mind is Op. 10 No. 2, played with more lightness and clarity than I've ever heard before. And his Op. 25 No. 1 benefits from the same magnificent technique. At the same time, to hear an Op. 25, No. 1 that will really make your jaw hit the floor, try to find Arrau's historic 1929 recording. Has it ever been bettered?



There are far worse readings out there, and at some level it's hard *not* to recommend this disc. But something crucial is still missing--the extremes of the Etudes' personality, the storminess, the delicate whispering, the exuberant playfulness. Chopin wrote probably the most richly-colored music for the piano ever, and Lugansky is still painting in pastels. I had the same diappointment with his Chopin Preludes, and for the same reasons. In the Etudes, for example, while he can blaze through No. 12 in C minor from Op. 10, Cortot's reading, though less technically breathtaking, is more *interesting.* It's the difference between a spry young man who's a bit facile vs. a more frail elder who nonetheless is riveting because of his deeper, richer experiences. Listen to Cortot slam down the hammer in the big forte chord just before the last phrase in the aforementioned C minor Etude. Luggie would never think of a gesture like that. (I think he fares best with Rachmaninoff, and is less successful with other composers. His Beethoven struck me, after admittedly just one hearing, as empty.) He's young, however, and could still develop a deeper approach. Until then, I'll stick to Cortot for my top recommendation, even with somewhat limited technique.



(Update July 2009: A new recording of the Etudes deserves attention: Freddy Kempf on BIS. Soud is every bit as good at the Lugansky but the big, outsized personality is there, and despite the fact that these are "miniatures," they are really titanic in conception and deserve treatment with more personality than Luganksy provides here. Another fine recording I've stumbled on is Yukio Yokoyama on Sony...recorded in the early 90s, it apparently went nowhere, and Mr. Yokoyama isn't exactly a household name. Judging by this one disc, he should be. A recording by Elisso Wirssaladze disappointed me--she steamrollers the music, even if she has great power.)"

Masterful technique and musicality

R.S. | 12/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When it comes to Chopin Etudes, I have always been a Pollini fan. I was skeptical that any other pianist could even approach his standard. But having purchased this CD, I will admit to being thoroughly impressed. Lugansky's technique is second to none, but he always puts musicality first. Though some listeners may take issue with some of Lugansky's expressive nuances, this is without doubt a historic recording, well worth adding to your collection. No serious student of the Chopin Etudes should go without this superb CD."