My late pianist colleague Joseph Smith recalled hearing Josef Hofmann’s recordings for the first time in the 1960s. At a time where literalism was more or less the law, Hofmann’s untrammeled, seemingly free-spirited style made a relatively fresh and revelatory impression. Smith also noticed, as he put it, “all of the tricks,” referring to Hofmann’s protruding accents, fabricated inner voices, and other momentary, titillating details. I mention this because I respond in a similar way to Alessandro Deljavan’s Chopin Etudes.
Technically, they’re beyond cavil. Interpretively, they’re oriented in lyricism rather than in driving bravura, laced with tapered phrases and liberal rubato. Yet in contrast to other subjectively slanted Chopin interpretations from pianists like Georges Cziffra and Shura Cherkassky, Deljavan’s fanciful details are underlined to the point where they divert attention away from the proverbial bigger picture.
In Op. 10 No. 2, for instance, Deljavan excavates melodies from the left hand’s chordal accompaniment, yet belabors his discoveries. Op. 10 No. 9’s tenutos are so obvious and predictable that expression becomes moot. Op. 25 No. 5 is fast and flexible à la Alfred Cortot, yet no apparent rhyme nor reason governs the exaggerated voicings and picky accentuations . The D-flat Nouvelle Etude is teased to the point where the pianist’s impressively differentiated legato and detached articulations go for nothing.
At the same time, certain textural effects that sound strange on first hearing actually have a basis in the score, such as the heavy pedaling three bars before the end of the “Butterfly” Etude Op. 10 No. 9. Deljavan also makes more of the left-hand staccatos in Op.10 No. 3’s poco piu animato middle section than most, although he curiously departs from the Urtext in measures 31 and 34, where we lose the sudden major to minor melodic shifts common to most performances.
There’s no denying Deljavan’s innate talent and imagination. Yet by working a little too hard in his attempts to make a personal imprint in an overcrowded Chopin Etudes catalog, Deljavan overloads and often trivializes the music. After all, you can’t aspire to become a “Golden Age” pianist wearing costume jewelry.
