Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995) received his first piano lessons from his mother Lydia Cherkassky. In 1922 when Shura was 13 the Cherkassky family emigrated to Baltimore in the USA where he made his debut in 1923. Further advice was sought and Cherkassky played for Rachmaninoff at No. 33, Riverside Drive, New York (an address he never forgot) who, although impressed by the young prodigy, suggested that he do some preliminary work with Rosina Lhévinne, change the position of his hands and give up concertising for at least two years. Not happy with the idea of giving up public performance further advice was sought from the
legendary Josef Hofmann who said that on the contrary Shura should
continue to give concerts. This long association with the concert platform
meant that Cherkassky always felt at ease before an audience. Thus he
continued his studies and advisory sessions with Hofmann at the Curtis
Institute Philadelphia until 1935. In the interim he began his long obsession with world travel with trips to Australia, New Zealand, the Far East, Russia and Europe. The war years were a difficult time for Cherkassky when concert engagements became thin on the ground. After the war, his career continued to blossom with appearances at all the great concert venues of the world. Over the last three decades of his life Cherkassky was at last fully recognised as one of the truly great
pianists and individualists. A recreative genius who relished spontaneity,
beauty of sound, the kaleidoscopic possibilities of the piano with the
sure intent of giving intense pleasure to his captive listeners.
A rare musical phenomenon, Walter Gieseking (1895-1956) had an immense repertoire spanning from Bach to the foremost composers of his time. He was essentially self-taught and rarely practiced, for his best playing came when he was rested and thus able to fully concentrate, relying on his photographic memory. No pianist before or since has displayed such a unique individuality, a modernism with utmost involvement in the music combined with care given to the style of the work
performed. Unlike other artists, Gieseking's own approach was the same from his
first discs in 1924 until four days before his death in 1956. His interpretive
art did not develop or change, but instead expanded with the addition of new
repertoire. Sonically Gieseking possessed a seemingly limitless range of tones
and shadings, all based on the music. Nearly each composer he approached came to life in a unique way, especially Debussy, his live Mozart recordings, Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, and especially the few examples of his Faure and Scriabin.
Monique Haas (1909) has been one of the most outstanding French performers of the Twentieth century. She begun her musical studies with Lazare-Lévi, made her debut in 1928, but she was mostly appreciated in the United Kingdom. In the post-war years, she was mainly attracted by the contemporary repertory. Her recording of Ravel Concert in G was considered a masterpiece since its first appearance, still relishing those features of spontaneity and immediacy which seem proper to her style and characterizing of all her performances.
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