Panorama: Passion for Piano

Anything that starts off with Shura Cherkassky's delicious account of a Tango by Albéniz has got to have something going for it, and this set seems to score over and over again. It's an interesting piece of programming, since having got off to a Spanish start, we are led through Bach (traditionally the starter), Balakirev (his famously unplayable Islamey thrown off coolly by Julius Katchen), Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Gottschalk, Granados, Grieg, and Handel. One thing they certainly all have in common is the passion of the title, and they are well served by our guides, who include Tureck, Kempff, Kocsis, Lill, Barenboim, Argerich, Michelangeli, De Larrocha, Gilels, and Gavrilov. It is worth mentioning so many, since these are top names in their respective fields and it gives an indication of what you can expect from this set. And while you would rightly expect veteran Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha to give us the full treatment in Albéniz and Granados, listen to her delightful piece of Handel, which concludes the set. Recordings range in time from 1955 to 1998, and the freshness of the playing transcends changes in recording technology during those years. --Keith Clarke