Boris Berezovsky - Chopin: Etudes (1991)

Berezovsky is a sadly under-rated player, even though he won the Tchakovsky Competition in 1990. His natural talent is given full vent in these Etudes. One must remember that these were studies written by Chopin, each one exploring a singular technical idea - the 'Revolutionary' a test of left-hand power and flexibility, Op.10 No.1 a study in right-hand stretches, etc. Thus in each piece, Berezovsky utilises a different aspect of his phenomenal technique and gives a demonstration of how they should be played. In the CD booklet, one critic accurately observes that Berezovsky 'knows there is plenty of time ahead of him'; and rightly so! In a musical world today where everyone thinks they need to flex their muscle in order to gain attention, Berezovsky carries on at his own pace, regardless. There is no need to play everything at breakneck speed as does Argerich where the tendency is to sink into a show of bad taste and pointless pyrotechnics. These Etudes, unlike those of Czerny or Hanon, are musical pieces in their own right; not merely techinical tests. I compared Etudes on this recording to others I had, and I found they matched the technical completeness of Pollini, and yet carried the lyricism of Cherkassky. Only Ashkenazy is on par for all-roundedness (although he does tend to play everything a little loudly), and Magaloff's touch slightly too light. Along with this, I recommend his recording of the Rach. 3 (with Inbal on Teldec) which also includes a selection of the Op.23 preludes. Here you will find Berezovsky finally throwing caution to the wind and unleashing the full might of his technique in the fiendishly difficult B Flat major prelude - probably the fastest and certainly most impressive recording since Richter's. Both are must buys.