Music Review: Andrei Gavrilov Performs Chopin's Études op. 12 and op. 25

Frederic Chopin's études op. 10 and op. 25 have been hailed by performers and listeners as timeless pianistic masterpieces. Highly improvisatory in nature, these pieces have been recognized as challenging yet incredibly rewarding endeavors for any performing pianist and have thus entered into the standard repertoire. An "étude" was typically a piece of academic nature to be studied by a student of music to refine their technique, but these pieces, known more accurately as "concert études," are pieces which accelerate technical growth for the performer and act also as effective concert pieces. Indeed, these pieces are overflowing with intense emotion and intimacy.

Andrei Gavrilov has nearly inhuman precision in his technique, yet there is no overt focus on accuracy in these masterful readings of the material. The man's dynamic range on the instrument is incredibly well-refined, traversing even the most difficult and far-flung passages with precision, careful attention to dynamics, and an obvious respect for the repertoire and composer. While Gavrilov could be criticized for taking incredibly high tempos in many of the études, I never sensed in any of these readings a virtuosity which wasn't put to good use as a tool for emotional expression. In contrast with some of the richly textured and grand pieces in this recording, the pieces which stress intimacy and simplistic beauty, such as etude no. 7 in c-sharp minor, op. 25, are rendered here with intense feeling and a great understanding of the emotional motivations behind the études.

The études take about an hour to play in full, starting with the impressive and intricate étude in arpeggios in C major no. 1 op. 12, and ending again in C major at the end of the c minor étude no. 12, op. 25, it too focusing on arpeggios.

Like this recording, there are many recordings selling for budget prices that display seemingly miraculous mastery, technique, and extravagant emotional expression through pieces of classical repertoire. This one, as many others, seems to have been neglected. If you have any interest at all in solo piano repertoire, I would strongly recommend this recording. It requires an attention to detail and time set aside for listening, but it is greatly rewarding. I have had this recording now for one or two years and it has become a part of my standard listening. I personally have studied the first étude in C major, op. 12, but I never developed the titanic technique to perform it at a concert standard.

Article Author: Colin White

Colin White has been involved intensely (and in his own way) with music since he was 15 when he began practicing obsessively on the piano. He has since developed an understanding of the intricacies of classical music and has studied the rudiments of music theory and orchestration. …

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