Frederic Chopin: Polonaises Nos. 1-6 & Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

Lazar Berman, a bear of a man whom The Times of London called ‘one of the last unabashed exponents of the Romantic tradition of Russian pianism’, was known for the power of his playing and for his prodigious technique but was also capable of great delicacy at the keyboard. The core of his repertoire was the great Romantic and post-Romantic works, from Beethoven to Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Emil Gilels referred to him as a ‘phenomenon of the musical world’. Eloquence presents his complete Deutsche Grammophon recordings over five titles.

Lazar Berman did not like competitions. In the 1956 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, his first trip to the West, he was placed only fifth. An experience in a Chopin competition left a bitter taste; as a result, he subsequently refused to play Chopin, explaining that ‘Of course I used to play him but many years ago I entered for a Chopin competition in Warsaw and I did not qualify. It was a tremendous blow to my pride and I vowed that I would never play him again.’ Nevertheless, in 1979, Berman was persuaded to set down this version of Chopin’s mature Polonaises, leaving us feeling much the poorer for the lack of other recordings from him of this composer. Mussorgsky’s suite, ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’, was perhaps his most fully realised masterpiece. Berman’s view of the work is detailed, clearly sculpted, energising but never over-the top.