Today’s lesson in Classical CD Marketing Madness 101: In 1997 EMI reissued Andrei Gavrilov’s 1988 Chopin Etudes in its budget Red Line series, with the same composer’s First and Third Ballades as filler. Fast-forward to 2001. EMI brings out Gavrilov’s Etudes again, minus the Ballades, on Seraphim Classics. At least one reputable on-line store sells both editions for the same price. Will wonders never cease? As a Chopinist, Gavrilov broaches the Etudes in the manner of a pianistic Billy the Kid. His hyperactive fingers are lubricated to the point where they invariably shoot before they think. Glibness rules the so-called “Ocean” Etude’s waves, and the rotary patterns of the “Black Key” and “Winter Wind” selections are tossed off with oily effortlessness. Gavrilov similarly gobbles down the etudes involving double notes like the Eggplant that ate Chicago. For some reason the pianist freezes in the face of the lyrical E major and E-flat minor Op. 10 selections and the Nocturne-like Op. 25 No. 7, and prosaically treads their melodic trajectories. For a modern-day Chopin Etudes recording that offers equal technical and musical satisfaction, choose either Juana Zayas (Music and Arts) or Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca).
