Nadia Reisenberg - A Chopin Treasury (2008)

Nadia Reisenberg -- sister to legendary thereminist extraordinaire Clara Rockmore -- was a legend herself as a superb recitalist and chamber musician, based for most of her life in New York City. Her son, pianist Russell Sherman, recalls her as "the quintessential non-specialist" in his excellent liner notes for Bridge's Nadia Reisenberg: A Chopin Treasury, and indeed, Reisenberg was able to work up and perform any music that was set before her, whether she liked it personally or not. This kept Reisenberg in demand, but there was certain repertoire that was close to her heart, and the music of Chopin was a particular favorite; Reisenberg recorded his nocturnes, mazurkas, the Berceuse in D flat, Barcarolle in F sharp, and Allegro de Concert in A, Op. 46, for the Westminster label between 1955 and 1957. All of these performances are included in this four-disc set, plus an explosive 1947 Carnegie Hall performance of the Sonata No. 3 in B minor, never released before. Reisenberg's playing throughout is beautiful and rather unlike standards observed more than 50 years hence; she maintained a restrained, clear-eyed, and unsentimental approach to Chopin; while the tempo is still flexible, Reisenberg doesn't linger and scrupulously observes changes in dynamics. Everything she does is purposeful and projects the musical text; Sherman quotes her as stating, "I've always aimed for simplicity in my conceptions. I hate doing anything original for its own sake...the music always comes first." The Berceuse is one outstanding example; Reisenberg's performance achieves an ideal balance of give and take in the piece, and amounts to a continuous crescendo from the first to the last, even as she takes pains to visit the various inlets and eddies alongside Chopin's expansive shoreline. Reisenberg's recordings of the Nocturnes is also a study in personal resilience, recorded just as her husband, Isaac Sherman, had died -- she delivered these strong, heartfelt performances even as her heart was basically torn out with sorrow. Westminster sought all of this Chopin as -- with every classical recording company, then, before, and in the future -- it knew his music would sell. Ironically, the label is responsible for the least satisfying element in this recording, which is the recording. It is narrow, weak in the bass register, and slightly brittle in the top, although this is not atypical at all of the way keyboard instruments were recorded in the 1950s, even in the studio. The piano used also seems to have a little "hiccup" in it, which is infrequently noticeable. It is not as though we can go back and ask Reisenberg to go back and do these all over again, and Bridge has gone through the trouble to get "the best" in transfer engineers to work on this restoration: Seth Winner. Indeed, the concert recording sounds terrific, and while it's a shame the whole set doesn't sound that way, there was only one Nadia Reisenberg and this is her Chopin. If one is visiting this composer for the first time then to try elsewhere would be a scrupulous choice; however, if the listener is well acquainted with Chopin's music, or would like to hear performances of it that are unadulterated by the usual approach in terms of expression, then this will be instructive and enjoyable. After all, in this case, your ears do adjust to the limitations of the recorded sound with a little exposure to it.