Chopin Mazurkas, including Opp. 41 & 50; Ballades Nos 2 & 4; Scherzo No. 4; Waltzes – selection etc Anna Zassimova (piano) BIS BIS-2619 (CD/SACD) 80:51 mins
Goodness, Chopin wrote a lot of Mazurkas. Even when played as sensitively as Anna Zassimova does, the near-unbroken succession of generally minor-key, triple-time dances, leaves the listener swaying dolorously in a haze of Polish żal – the characteristic ‘languid sorrow’. That said, this is delicious suffering; Zassimova convincingly inhabits the gentle, occasionally more violent, melancholy of this soundworld.
Although the promised ‘improvisatory journey’ does not really emerge – it is, after all, a pure Chopin album – there is great flexibility in the playing, with a rich, colourful touch and rhythmic freedom. Zassimova could do more to explore the improvisatory freedoms of the 19th-century piano tradition, rather than remaining so strictly bound to the notation.
The programme alternates the Polish dances with heftier works such as Ballades and a Scherzo. The sequence is generally effective, in that some substantial moments in the mazurkas are revealed. Other mazurkas come off as comparatively slight (not a criticism) and we are reminded that such music was written primarily for amusement. But some are truly magnificent, such as the C sharp minor Mazurka Op. 41, with its exotic-sounding flattened tones, as well as the eye-opening Op. 6 No. 2 in the same key. Zassimova plays these pieces with power, flair and passion.
Setting aside gush in the liner notes (Chopin produced ‘a universal body of work that seems to defy the passage of time’), much interesting context to this music is offered. This album repays careful listening and enriches our picture of Chopin’s conception of these elusive, tender dances.
Natasha Loges
