Cesar Cui(1835-1918)
     Preludes for Piano

25 Preludes, Opus 64
Naxos 8.555557
Jeffrey Biegel, Piano
Recorded 1992(first released on Marco Polo)
TT 67:00

Cesar Cui, the product of a French father and Lithuanian mother, is
most known for his inclusion as one of the "Mighty Handful".  Along with
Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui was active in
promoting the Russian nationalist movement.

Cui's motto could have been - "My way or the highway".  He was vicious
in his attacks on those who did not accept the "Mighty Handful" line of
thought - Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Rachmaninov, and others.

Given Cui's 'knife in the back' mentality, it is amusing that his musical
style was so derivative:  always looking back with no harmonic adventure
and even little chromaticism.

Derivative and obnoxious he may have been, but I've very much enjoyed
listening to this fine Naxos offerring.  Cui displays a knack for turning
a phrase and coming up with fine melodies.  His emotional range is
admirable, and he's a natural composer for the piano.  Most appealing,
there's a particularly light and breezy nature to many of the preludes
which captivates and is invigorating.  Biegel fully captures the delights
of Cui's music, and the sound quality is simpatico except for some clanging
in the stronger passsages.

It all begins with an irresistably heroic Prelude in C major which
represents an introductory fanfare; music this good certainly gave me the
expectation of more to come, and I wasn't disappointed.  Subsequent pieces
are arranged to maximize diversity of themes and structure, and every
prelude has its attractions and distinctiveness.

Don's Conclusions:  Cui is no Chopin or Scriabin in musical inspiration,
but he offers a consistently rewarding and enjoyable set of preludes.
Every aspect of the production has 'winner' on its lips, and the Naxos
price is further inducement to check out a 2nd tier composer at his best.
In summation, I can't imagine anyone not being allured by a discovery of
such fine music.

Don Satz
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