Russian pianist Anna Malikova has put together a program exploring the different facets of Chopin’s creative persona. She creates an appropriate perfumed aura around the Op. 30 Mazurkas, with more than a dab of earthy scent. The A-flat Op. 42 Waltz and D-flat “Minute” Waltz get firm, energetic, and intelligent readings. Malikova plays it safe, though, in the First and Fourth Ballades, and lacks the visionary scale and cumulative force familiar from recordings by pianists as different as Horowitz, Moravec, Arrau, Richter, Cortot, and Biret. By contrast, the pianist conjures up the desolate subtext of the C minor Op. 48 Nocturne with total success. Best of all is Malikova’s frolicking romp through the Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise, peppered with deftly timed filigree, bubbly runs, and just enough inner voices to perk up one’s tired ears. The excellent engineering does full justice to the clarity of Malikova’s Kawai EX grand piano.
