Notes and Editorial Reviews
Eugéne Mursky is making his way through what looks like a complete Chopin cycle, of which the nocturnes are Volume 6. He was born in Tashkent in 1975, and began his international career upon winning the World Piano Competition in London in 1994, along with a prize for the best Chopin performance. He is an unusually mature pianist for his age. He had several prominent teachers, but the one I focus on is Lev Naumov in Moscow. I often have felt that Russian-trained pianists have an unusually soulful response to Chopin’s music. Perhaps this has something to do with the depth Russian pianists seek out in their piano tone. The Russian Chopin pianists play on a broad canvas, and look for possibilities within that context for emotional and
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sonic exploration. Mursky definitely fits into this category.
The album’s program notes, by Ulrich Köppen, complement Mursky’s performances very well and show insight in demonstrating what Mursky brings out of the music. This may just be fortuitous. Köppen dwells on the importance of the night in the romantic aesthetic, and what this means for Chopin’s accomplishment in the nocturnes. Using literary, musical, and political examples, Köppen explains how the night was the time when the conventions of bourgeois society loosened. It was associated with derangement and extreme emotions. The night also provided a setting for a proto-Freudian exploration of eroticism. Appropriately, Chopin’s nocturnes are a major aesthetic advance on the lilting beauty of John Field’s. Mursky’s interpretations here offer a stimulating survey of this romantic aesthetic. He plays with a wide dynamic range and detailed characterizations. If you are familiar with Arthur Rubinstein’s 1965 recording of the nocturnes, with its civilized comforts, Mursky’s performances may come as something of a shock. He does, however, make you listen to many of these pieces anew.
Turning to the details of the performances, the first nocturne opens luminously, while the second subject brings a feeling of shadows. The return of the A section includes some stress. In op. 15/1, the A section is fragile, while the B is agitated; we see these as a succession of related emotions. Op. 15/3 reveals the influence of Bach in the second subject. Op. 27/1 opens eerily, while the B section is grandly ominous, like the setting of a Gothic novel—which dissipates with the return of A. Op. 32/2 receives a rendition as ripely romantic as anyone’s, in keeping with its inclusion in Les Sylphides.
In op. 37/2, Mursky chooses a slightly slow, subdued tempo for the second subject, giving it the feeling of a heartache. Op. 48/1 has a prominent left hand throughout, intensifying the drama. As for the late op. 62 nocturnes, the first is a riot of tone colors and shadings, while the second is unusually forceful, almost gnomic in expression. Op. 72 has a rhapsodic feeling. As a bonus, Mursky includes an extra performance of op. 9/2 recorded on an 1854 Erard piano. It sounds more intimate than the version on a modern grand, even though their timings differ by only one second.
The sound engineering on the recording is excellent, both rich and subtle. It allows you really to sink into the manifold details of Mursky’s interpretation. I don’t know if I would recommend Mursky’s as a reference version of the nocturnes. I think I feel more comfortable with Daniel Barenboim and Alexis Weissenberg. But if this album proves anything, it is that comfort was not Chopin’s main endeavor in writing these pieces. For stimulation and a beautiful realization of an aesthetic judgment, this set is highly recommended.
-- Dave Saemann, FANFARE [9/2010]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Scherzo for Piano no 1 in B minor, B 65/Op. 20 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Evgene Mursky (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831-1832; Poland
Length: 10 Minutes 47 Secs.
2.
Scherzo for Piano no 2 in B flat minor/D flat major, B 111/Op. 31 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Evgene Mursky (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1837; Paris, France
Length: 10 Minutes 39 Secs.
3.
Scherzo for Piano no 3 in C sharp minor, B 125/Op. 39 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Evgene Mursky (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1839; Mallorca (Majorca),
Length: 7 Minutes 29 Secs.
4.
Scherzo for Piano no 4 in E major, B 148/Op. 54 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Evgene Mursky (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1842; Paris, France
Length: 11 Minutes 7 Secs.
5.
Berceuse for Piano in D flat major, B 154/Op. 57 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Evgene Mursky (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1844; Paris, France
Length: 4 Minutes 34 Secs.
6.
Barcarolle for Piano in F sharp major, B 158/Op. 60 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Evgene Mursky (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845-1846; Paris, France
Length: 8 Minutes 33 Secs.
7.
Fantasie for Piano in F minor/A flat major, B 137/Op. 49 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Evgene Mursky (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1841; Paris, France
Length: 14 Minutes 2 Secs.
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