Though not his first recording for Calliope, this may be
Yakov Kasman's most easily approached recording. The Russian pianist's previous recordings were of twentieth century masters
Prokofiev,
Scriabin, and
Shostakovich and while his performances were incredibly virtuosic, they were more technically impressive than emotionally affecting. In this disc of
Tchaikovsky's best-known solo piano music, however,
Kasman has penetrated to the warm-beating heart of nineteenth century Russian piano music. In
Tchaikovsky's musical album leaves The Seasons,
Kasman subordinates his technique to more direct expressivity and the effect is much more emotionally affecting then it is technically impressive. In
Tchaikovsky's dramatic Grand Sonata,
Kasman, while still wonderfully expressive in the Andante, does display his technique to compensate for the rhetorical gaps in the opening Moderato e risoluto and the closing Allegro vivace, but since this serves only to enhance the effectiveness of the music, it is entirely understandable and even commendable. Easily the finest recorded performance of the works since
Richter's, this disc should help change
Kasman's reputation from a steel-fingered modernist to a steel-fingered modernist with a romantic heart. Calliope's sound is big, close, and immediate.