Have you ever imagined what Chopin’s Ballades might sound like when played in the style of Glenn Gould’s Bach? Well, here’s your chance to find out! Eugéne Mursky’s highly analytical, compulsively detailed performances X-ray the works down to their linear skeletons, uncovering inner voices and hidden melodies within flurries of passagework that even Josef Hofmann and Shura Cherkassky couldn’t divine. Forget about narrative sweep, rhythmic life, heartfelt lyricism, and any other characteristics that characterize “normal” Chopin playing. For instance, via Mursky’s ironclad pulsing you won’t hear the lilt of the Third Ballade’s “rocking-horse” theme, or the galvanic thrust implied in the codas of Nos. 1 and 4, or the long-lined calm others bring to No. 2’s opening (Mursky’s accents on the downbeats prevent this from happening). If you like your Ballades probed between the lines, Claudio Arrau and Stefan Vladar manage to do so without sacrificing expression, tonal beauty, and forward momentum.
Charm and spontaneity have little to do with the earnest deliberation and overly worked out phrasing Mursky brings to the Impromptus (the third is heavy and earthbound, while No. 2’s middle section marches with trepidation rather than pride). At least the rarely-heard Bolero (it’s actually more of a Polonaise) boasts a modicum of swagger and swing, but not to Rubinstein’s elegant, effortless degree. Wrong-headed though they may be, these performances fascinate and hold your attention. But for how long?
