While César Cui was not a strikingly original composer, his 24 Preludes Op. 64, influenced of course by Chopin’s better-known cycle, have lots of melodic charm and are effectively written for the instrument. And besides Chopin, Liszt’s extroverted ghost hovers over the music’s frequent orchestral dimensions (long passages that use full-bodied chords, plus handfuls of octaves). Interestingly, the C-sharp minor Prelude’s feverish climaxes and jackhammer repeated chords foreshadow Scriabin. Huge dynamic contrasts and rhetorically inflected long lines characterize Jeffery Biegel’s appropriately grand style of pianism. Originally issued by Marco Polo in 1993, the sound unfortunately typifies the label’s mediocre piano engineering back then (much improved since, I hasten to add). Anything louder than mezzo-forte sounds shrill and metallic and actually misrepresents the full-bodied fortissimos Biegel produces in the concert hall. Otherwise, I wouldn’t hesitate recommending this release to listeners who enthuse over Romantic piano rarities.
