£12

Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
[9] Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 in A minor, S244 b
Recorded 21 March 1956
First issued on HMV ALP 1527 (mono LP)
Stereo source: HS 60

[10] Valse de l'opéra 'Faust' (Gounod), S407 b
Recorded 22 March 1956
First issued on HMV ALP 1527 (mono LP)
Stereo source: HS 60

CD2

Henry LITOLFF (1818-1891)
[1] Scherzo
(from Concerto symphonique No. 4, Op. 102) + a
with BBC Symphony Orchestra / Malcolm Sargent
Recorded 27 May 1958
First issued in stereo on HMV ASD 536 (stereo LP)
Stereo source: 2YEA331

Camille SAINT-SAENS (1835-1921)
arr. Leopold GODOWSKY (1870-1938)
[2] Le cygne (from Le carnaval des animaux) b
Recorded 22 March 1956
First issued on HMV ALP 1527 (mono LP)
Stereo source: HS 60

Anatoly LYADOV (1855-1914)
[3] A Musical Snuffbox, Op. 32 b
Recorded 21 March 1956
First issued on HMV ALP 1527 (mono LP)
Stereo source: HS 60

Sergey RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Ten Preludes, Op. 23 a b
[4] No. 5 in G minor 1, 3
[5] No. 2 in B flat major 1, 2
Recorded 28 1, 29 2 January & 17 March 1958 3
First issued on HMV 7ER 5131 (mono EP)
Stereo source: 7TYEA 36

George GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
Three Preludes a b
[6] No. 1 in B flat major
[7] No. 2 in C sharp minor
[8] No. 3 in E flat minor
Recorded 28 January & 17 March 1958
First issued on HMV 7ER 5131 (mono EP)
Stereo source: 7TYEA 35

Francis POULENC (1899-1963)
[9] Toccata (from Trois piéces) b
Recorded 21 March 1956
First issued on HMV ALP 1527 (mono LP)
Stereo source: HS 60

Abram CHASINS (1903-1987)
Three Chinese Pieces b
[10] No. 1, A Shanghai Tragedy, Op. 7, No. 1 1
[11] No. 2, Flirtation in a Chinese Garden, Op. 52
[12] No. 3, Rush Hour in Hong Kong 2
Recorded 22 1 & 23 2 March 1956
First issued on HMV ALP 1527 (mono LP)
Stereo source: HS 60

Appendix
George GERSHWIN
Three Preludes a b
[13] No. 1 in B flat major
[14] No. 2 in C sharp minor
[15] No. 3 in E flat minor
Recorded 28 January & 17 March 1958
First issued on HMV 7ER 5131 (mono EP)
Stereo source: 7TYEA 35

Fryderyk CHOPIN
[16]Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47 a b
Recorded 28 January 1958
First issued on HMV 7ER 5120 (mono EP)
Stereo source: unedited master

First release on CD a
First release in stereo b
All tracks appear in stereo for the first time on CD

Recorded in Abbey Road Studio No. 3, London, 1956 & 1958 and Kingsway Hall, London 1958+

Issue note
Throughout his recording career, Cherkassky flirted with different record labels, never really settling with one company. His first recording for an EMI company was in 1929 (HMV) and the last, a recording of the Litolff Scherzo, in 1967 (New World Records). He was wary of the recording studio, feeling happier performing to an audience, which resulted in a comparatively limited discography. Cherkassky was probably at his peak in the mid to late 1950s, just as his career began to accelerate in the UK. These HMV recordings, made in 1956 and 1958, contain some of the earliest EMI stereo recordings, when the technology was still at an experimental stage (EMI introduced twin-track 7.5 ips stereosonic tapes in 1955, followed in 1958 by stereophonic LPs). Quite often, these stereo recordings suffered from technical problems, including equipment failure, which resulted in many recordings not even making it to tape. Some EMI recording sessions from this period were taped in both mono and stereo concurrently, including these Cherkassky recordings. Only the mono versions were intended for immediate release as the equipment for playing stereo LPs was not yet widely available. Indeed, the majority of the tracks on this CD release have only ever been published in their mono versions. The Chopin works, apart from Ballade No. 3, was released on stereosonic tape in 1957 and the Litolff Scherzo appeared in 1963 on a stereo LP entitled “An Evening at the Proms”.

The recordings on this CD issue were made at Abbey Road Studios, London (Litolff Scherzo was recorded in Kingsway Hall, London) and remastered there in 2009 using the original EMI stereo source tapes. These tapes had been left dormant in the EMI archive for over 50 years, alongside masses of other unpublished stereo recordings from this era, which still remain untouched.
The preservation of the piano’s natural acoustic sound was a vital part of the remastering process. With this in mind, we chose not to make an issue of removing the audible hiss that is present on the tapes, to avoid diminishing the acoustic depth and dynamic range of the piano.

Although remembered mainly for his performances of romantic repertoire, Cherkassky had wide-ranging and sometimes idiosyncratic tastes in programming. Alongside standard repertoire, he was also known to perform music by Boulez, Stockhausen, Ligeti and even performed boogie-woogie! This CD release illustrates this diversity of style in a mixture of musical bonbons, warhorses and encore works spanning three centuries. Cherkassky’s trademark lyricism, his exciting unpredictability and his dazzling virtuosity are in abundance throughout this significant historical issue. This is a significant addition to the Cherkassky discography.