Individuated lyricism Marianna Rashkovetsky plays Chopin - reviewed by JOHN BELL YOUNG '... luscious tone and interpretive ardency.'

Who is to say that a man without a country, or a recording without a label is any less valuable than those who enjoy such advantages? The Russian-born American pianist Marianna Rashkovetsky, who has recorded for such established independent labels as Angelok and Americus, proves as much in this superb survey of three romantic era composers.

This CD, a privately produced issue available only at amazon.com, provides an object lesson in elegant music making. What stand out immediately are Ms Rashkovetsky's readings of four Chopin études. To these she brings the kind of understatement that her more celebrated colleagues would be well advised to emulate. In the thick wash of notes that comprise each étude, made all the more challenging by their essentially repetitive technical patterns, Ms Rashkovetsky illuminates the poetry that informs them. Indeed, she rejects the études as an opportunity to exploit virtuosity for its own sake in favor of exploring their compositional interiors, and indeed, their quiescence.

Continue >>

For help listening to the sound extracts here, please refer to our questions & answers page.