Frederic Chopin(1810-1849)
       Preludes, Opus 28

Lincoln Mayorga
Sheffield Lab 505
Recorded 1985

Juana Zayas
Music & Arts 1006
Recorded 1996

Sheffield Lab, housed in California, is an 'audiophile' company taking
great pride in the quality of its products.  I'm not into that technical
world, simply buying what sounds good to me.  At the same time, I think I
can appreciate exceptional sound as much as the next person.  Sound quality
is certainly something I'll be paying much attention to during my listening
sessions.

Lincoln Mayorga looks like quite a 'dandy' from the front cover of the cd,
very much impressed with himself.  Unfortunately, I'm not impressed with
his performances which have two major problems.  First, he's much too tame
when strength and power are called for; Preludes 5, 15, 18, and 22 simply
need a more primitive approach than Mayorga is willing to offer.  Second,
he often displays a weak right-hand with insufficient stretching of
inflections; this is a killer in Preludes 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, and sixteen.
Mayorga's left hand isn't exactly a tower of power either; in the 24th
Prelude, he can't quite deliver a tension-laden bass line.  Generally,
themes such as bleakness, disorientation, and wildness are largely lacking.

There are some memorable moments, particularly Mayorga's brutal
interpretation of the 14th Prelude.  Also, Mayorga does well with
presenting the beauty of Chopin's music in pieces such as Preludes 13,
17, 19, and 23.

When I add it all up, there is more disappointment than reward.  Only
Mayorga's 16th Prelude really stands out; his other fine performances are
surpassed by a number of alternative recorded artists.

Don's Mayorga Conclusions:  I just took a peek at the Sheffield Lab
website, and the Mayorga version of Chopin's Preludes seems to be absent
from the inventory of recordings.  That's probably just as well.  His
readings are way down on the list, and I don't advise using up any shelf
space with this performance.

I almost forgot to talk about the Sheffield Lab sound quality.  From where
I sit, a great performance overcomes bad sound, but outstanding sound never
overcomes problematic performances.  The Sheffield sound doesn't matter
when performances like Mayorga's are the subject.  I suppose that the sound
*is* first-rate, but it would have been beneficial if an engineer had found
a way to sharpen/stretch Mayorga's inflections.  I think he needed all the
help he could get, and nobody came to his rescue.  Mayorga is not a keeper,
so he'll soon be off the property.  Nothing personal, but my library space
does have limits, and there are so many other excellent versions to house.

With the next disc from Juana Zayas, we enter a naturally flowing world
headed by Chopin.  Zayas, born in Cuba, started making a reputation for
herself in the 1960's and her New York debut was at Lincoln Center in 1977.
She isn't just a fine pianist; she's one of the best Chopin performing
artists of the 20th century.

The liner notes ask and answer why Zayas is not a household name throughout
the classical music world - priority on family.  I certainly agree, because
her artistry deserves nothing less than great acclaim.

Every Prelude she performs is idiomatic of Chopin's soundworld.
Particularly rewarding are the 'bleak' and 'sparkling' pieces.  She
invests the 2nd, 4th, and 6th Preludes with a crushing loss of hope, the
1st Prelude displays great emphasis on the music's swells and reaching for
fruition, and the 3rd Prelude beautifully streaks through the sky with a
dynamite lower voice bass-line.  Just compare Zayas to Mayorga in the 3rd
Prelude; he seems to be entirely earth-bound while Zayas is in the higher
reaches of the stratosphere.

I could go on describing the illuminating and deeply felt aspects of
her performances, but redundancy would set it.  Suffice it to say that
Zayas is a special artist in Chopin whose natural rhythms and flows are
transcendent.  She ends with left-hand tension in the 24th Prelude which
cuts like a knife; I'd love to hear her play some Scriabin.

Of course, nobody is perfect, and Zayas isn't quite as effective in the
powerful and fast preludes which I referred to in my Part 4 Kissin review
as the 'disorienting' preludes.  This is where Martha Argerich has no
peers, and Zayas can't hold a candle to her.  Don't get me wrong; Zayas is
excellent in pieces such as the 12th and 14th Preludes, but Argerich gives
them a wild and totally disorienting presentation.  Zayas is more along
sensible lines, and I even prefer Kissin in these preludes where he invests
them with greater snap than Zayas.

Sound quality for Zayas is exceptional - crisp, clear, and incisive.
Although Music & Arts does not have an 'audiophile' reputation, I find
the sound on this disc superior even to what Sheffield Lab has to offer.

Don's Zayas Conclusions:  The Zayas set of performances of Chopin's
Preludes is one of the best on the market.  The other works on the disc
are the Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise, two additional preludes, and
the Barcarolle.  Music & Arts has also reissued a superior Chopin Etudes
which Zayas recorded in 1983.  These Zayas recordings are a treasure not
to be missed by Chopin enthusiasts.

Part 8 will be forthcoming soon, although I haven't yet decided which
artist to cover or how many.  I often get lazy and just review one
version at a time; leaves me with more energy for love-making and taking
our dog General Jackson for long and tortuous walks.  Initially I thought
that the General was going to be one ferocious 120-pound athlete; it turns
out that he's just a big and fearful guy who runs away from conflict.
Still, I love watching him jump over 6-foot fences with a gracefulness
that's magnificent.  In the arena of grace and style, the General and Juana
Zayas are mighty impressive.

Don Satz
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