In the mid-1950s collectors seeking a clean, unmannered, and musicianly Chopin B minor sonata would have gained satisfaction from Nikita Magaloff’s 1954 Decca recording. In fact, the pianist’s rhythmic directness and keen attention to bass lines differs little from his better-known stereo remake from the 1970s. One textual quirk in the Finale concerns Magaloff’s tendency to begin right-hand sextuplet runs (measure 54 and similar spots) a split second after the left-hand chord. For all its virtues, I don’t find this recording as gripping as other Chopin B minors from the ’50s, namely Kapell’s classic RCA version, plus Julius Katchen’s supercharged Decca traversal recorded only a year after Magaloff’s. I have no reservations about the Four Impromptus, however, which find Magaloff’s inspiration fully taking wing. He imbues his poetic, limpid phrases with gorgeously pointed rubatos that enliven rather than deflate Chopin’s long lines, supported by cogent inner-voice movement. Magaloff also plays the Berceuse with great care and subtle proportion, albeit without the tonal shimmer and delicacy that you hear from Gieseking and Kempff. Should more Magaloff material be considered for Decca’s Heritage reissue series, I nominate his excellent stereo Chopin Mazurkas cycle, recorded around 1958.
