Leeuwarder Courant: Review of Rachmaninov album (Chopin Variations Op. 22, Piano Sonata No. 1 / Piano Classics / 2012)
“The young Russian pianist Zlata Chochieva belongs to the group “highly promising”, and is even above that. At least judging from the recording of two rarely played works by Rachmaninoff, which were once premiered in the same concert: the Chopin Variations and the First Sonata.
The Russian, who is already playing the main podia of the world, not only amazes us with her effortless technique but also with her instinct for what is behind the notes, a world which she opens up without any trace of artificiality. In her hands variations are more than mere athletic exercises. She grabs the essentials, she deepens and enervates, while playing with the Chopin theme, all with the greatest ease and naturalness. And then the Sonata, after personages from Goethe’s Faust: what colours and what understanding of the inner drama. She will become one of the ‘greats’ – in fact, she already is.”
Rudolf Nammensma
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