Shura Cherkassky

Shura Cherkassky (October 7, 1909 – December 27, 1995) was a Ukrainian classical pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. His playing was characterized by an advanced technique and piano tone. [Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Pianists from Mozart to the Present, Simon $ Schuster, Second Edition (1987)]

Early years

Alexander Isaakovich Cherkassky was born in Odessa in 1909. (Shura is a diminutive form of Alexander.) Cherkassky's family fled to the United States to escape the Russian Revolution.

Cherkassky's first lessons were from his mother, Lydia Cherkassky, who once played for Tchaikovsky in St. Petersburg. She also taught the pianist Raymond Lewenthal. In the United States, Cherkassky continued his piano studies at the Curtis Institute of Music under Józef Hofmann. Before studying with Hofmann, however, Cherkassky auditioned for Sergei Rachmaninoff (33 Riverside Drive - an address he never forgot) who advised him to give up performing for at least two years and to change the position of his hands at the keyboard. Conversely, Hofmann suggested Cherkassky should continue giving concerts, and this long association with public performance meant that Cherkassky felt comfortable before an audience. Hofmann also recommended that he practice for four hours every day and Cherkassky did this religiously throughout his life, maintaining an extensive repertoire (baroque to Berio) to an exacting standard. His studies and advisory sessions with Hofmann continued until 1935. In the interim he began his lifelong obsession with world travel with trips to Australia, New Zealand, the Far East, Russia and Europe.

Cherkassky performed actively until the end of his life, and many of his best recordings were made under live concert recital conditions. He is speculated to be the pianist whose recording is featured in the Academy-award-winning cartoon The Cat Concerto. [ [http://www.gimpelmusicarchives.com/catconcerto.htm The Cat Concerto Controversy (Mystery Solved?) by Peter Gimpel] ]

The California years

In the 1940s Cherkassky moved to California. He appeared at the Hollywood Bowl with conductors such as Sir John Barbirolli and Leopold Stokowski, and he played the sound track (Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata) for the Bette Davis 1946 film "Deception". He also played Stravinsky's "Three Pieces from Petrushka" for the composer, who advised him to use the 'una corda' pedal for certain loud passages in order to obtain a particular special effect. Concert engagements were infrequent for Cherkassky in California during World War II.

The London years

In 1946 he married Eugenie Blanc; this marriage ended in divorce two years later. Also in 1946 he had a great success in Hamburg playing Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. This concert resulted in Cherkassky's popularity in Germany and Austria (Salzburg Festival) which lasted until the end of his life and confirmed him as one of the foremost pianists of the day. It was after his Wigmore Hall recital of March 27, 1957 that Cherkassky's career accelerated in the United Kingdom, and, following the death of his mother in Nice in 1961. he settled in London where he lived at The White House Hotel until his death in 1995.

Further touring

His career continued to flourish with appearances at all the great concert venues of the world: the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Theatre des Champs Elysees, at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and also with all the world's great orchestras and conductors. Cherkassky's love of spontaneity and his dislike of a fixed standard performance meant that some conductors were reluctant to work with him. With Cherkassky, there was no guarantee that what was agreed in rehearsal would happen in concert. Cherkassky's performing career lasted for over 70 years yet it was only in the last few decades of his life that he was recognized as one of the greatest pianists - a re-creative genius who relished spontaneity, beauty of sound and the kaleidoscopic possibilities of the piano.

Cherkassky is buried in Highgate Cemetery, London, England.

Recordings

Over seven decades of his concert career Cherkassky made a large number of recordings starting in the 1920s for RCA Victor, Vox, Swedish Cupol label, HMV, DG (the famous Tchaikovsky concerto recordings), Tudor, Nimbus and Decca ('live' BBC recordings). He made his last recordings in May 1995. These were a selection of Rachmaninoff's pieces to act as fillers for his recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 made the previous year.

Just seven months later on December 27, 1995, Cherkassky died in London, aged 86.

Discography

Releases by BBC Legends

*Shura Cherkassky: Rachmaninov / Prokofiev (BBCL4092-2)
*Shura Cherkassky: Chopin (BBCL4057-2)
*Shura Cherkassky: Beethoven, Chopin etc. (BBCL 4185-2)
*Shura Cherkassky / Sir Georg Solti: Tchaikovsky / Mussorgsky / Cherkassky (BBCL4160-2)

Releases by Decca

*Kaleidoscope - Piano Encores

hura Cherkassky Live Series

*Vol.1:- Schubert . Chopin (433 653-2 DH)
*Vol.2:- 80th Birthday Recital from Carnegie Hall (433 654-2 DH)
*Vol.3:- Encores (433 651-2 DH)
*Vol.4:- Chopin: Sonata No.2 & 3 (433 650-2 DH)
*Vol.5:- Liszt (433 656-2 DH)
*Vol.6:- Schumann (433 652-2 DH)
*Vol.7:- Stravinsky, Scriabin , Ravel, etc. (433 657-2 DH)
*Vol.8:- Rachmaninov, Brahms, etc. (433 655-2 DH)
*Anton Rubinstein : Piano Concerto No.4 in D minor op.70 + Encores (448 063-2 DH)

Releases by Deutsche Grammophon

*Tchaikovsky: Klavierkonzerte Nos. 1 & 2 (457 751-2)
*Liszt: Orchestral Works (453 130-2) (Cherkassky plays Fantasia on Hungarian Folk tunes, S.123 only. The rest of the recording is performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Herbert von Karajan)

Releases by Ivory Classics

*Shura Cherkassky: The Historic 1940s Recordings (2CD Set) (CD-72003)
*Shura Cherkassky: 1982 San Francisco Recital (CD-70904)

Releases by Nimbus

*Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995): Solo piano works by Chopin, Mussorgsky, Berg, Bernstein, Brahms, Schumann, Beethoven, Liszt, Stravinsky, Grieg and Rakhmaninov (6CD Set) (NI 1733)
*Chopin, Liszt: The B minor Sonatas (NI 7701)
*The Art of the Encore (NI 7708)
*Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995): Solo piano works by Chopin, Mussorgsky, Berg, Bernstein, Brahms, Schumann, Beethoven, Liszt, Stravinsky, Grieg and Rakhmaninov (7CD Set) (NI 1748)

Other Releases

*Duo-Art piano roll #66919, Liebeswalzer Op.57, No.5 Moszkowski (The Aeolian Company)
*The Young Shura Cherkassky (Biddulph)
*Piano Masters:- Vol.17: Shura Cherkassky (Pearl GEM 0138)
*Shura Cherkassky plays Liszt (Testament SBT 1033)
*Shura Cherkassky (Two Volumes) (Phillips Great Pianists of the 20th Century series)
*Debussy, Clair de Lune, Shura Cherkassky, 1993 (ASV Platinum PLT 8505)

References