Rudolf Firkusny

2010

“Those inclined to think of Rudolf Firkušný as a stylish but understated pianist are in for a surprise.
True, in Schubert's D946 pieces he remains a master of understatement. Playing with a patrician ease and grace, he none the less finds all of the Second Impromptu's central agitation, and if the quietly pulsing centre at the heart of No 3 sounds oddly diffident, he ends this whimsical caprice in dazzling style. In the Mussorgksy Pictures you sit back and listen to the highest musical quality caught, as it were, on the wing, but it is Firkušný's unleashing of power in the final pages of 'The Great Gate of Kiev' that hints at the sort of reserves he had up his sleeve when in his most outgoing mood.
For his Czech items (always at the heart of a Firkušný recital) he throws off Martinu's Fantaisie and Toccata with a special authenticity and aplomb, though even here he hardly prepares you for his Smetana encores. Smetana's piano music bristles with every virtuoso challenge, and the sheer excitement of Firkušný's storm though the C major Concert Study (taken at a gloriously indiscreet, hair-raising speed) has the audience cheering him to the rafters. Chopin's Op 63 No 3 Mazurka is spun off with the most gentle lift to its phrases, another reminder of a pianist garlanded with honours, particularly in his homeland and in his adopted America. Firkušný was the sort of musician other musicians flocked to hear and since he made relatively few commerical recordings, this thrilling disc, finely mastered, is doubly welcome.”

September 2008

“Firkušný was the sort of musician other musicians flocked to hear and since he made relatively few commercial recordings, this thrilling disc, finely mastered, is doubly welcome.”