Moreover, she conveys a warm-hearted exuberance as she sweeps through the set, setting forth one Etude after another in ideal fashion, never allowing interest to sag. This is piano playing, and more importantly, Chopin playing, on the highest level. She has all the technique necessary, but she is not tempted to vulgar displays of ego. Her performance, for lack of any finer-tuned term, must be called symphonic, a genuine symphonic Chopin of the kind that Petri or Busoni might have supplied. In fact, the comparison that springs to mind most frequently is that Zayas plays Chopin with the same commanding sweep that Petri invested in the music of Liszt.
Higher praise is hard to imagine.
A fellow collector tells me that these etudes have been recorded some 83 times. All things considered, however, there is no finer version than this one. Juana Zayas is especially impressive in the etudes. We described her recording as an intelligent balance of lyricism, wit, drama, and pianistic craft. It is playing on the highest level, beautifully recorded.