Chopin's mazurkas

Started by jwinter, August 02, 2012, 12:07:21 PM

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Mandryka

The Primakov mazurkas are on YouTube and Spotify.
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Mandryka

Quote from: Mandryka on March 24, 2019, 04:42:38 AM
Pletnev plays 30 minutes of mazurkas, I don't know what to make of it really, it's refined and poetic and reticent.

https://www.youtube.com/v/ruVA4kKpaAc&t=121s

Listening to Pletnev again. These are seriously interesting mazurkas.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

#242
Quote from: Mandryka on May 29, 2022, 08:34:31 PM
Very much enjoying Richter's 1979 preludes.

If you are talking about the Tokyo live/Olympia, I was thinking about mentioning about it. Plus, I like the album below. Cortot is extraordinary.



Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: Todd on May 28, 2022, 07:55:30 AM
A few years back I went on a mini-Mazurka bender.  Among complete sets I've heard, I prefer playing with an individual, or really interventionist, sound.  Vassily Primakov, Pietro De Maria, Arthur Rubinstein's first set, Yakov Flier, and Luisada's RCA set all stand out for me, with the unabashedly self-indulgent Primakov probably my favorite.  He seems to be one of those pianists who plays music a certain way just because he can.  As such, I'd love to see him take up recording again.

Among incomplete but still substantial blobs of Mazurkas, the inimitable Michel Block (on Pro Piano), William Kapell, and the micro-managed to the Nth degree Klara Min all stand out.  For small but substantive blobs, Halina Czerny-Stefańska and Ivan Moravec stand out.

Now that I stream more and more, I may have to dive even deeper to find the one or two or three new sets that hit the spot.  No other Chopin works seem to withstand such variety of interpretation.

I like the Michel Block and William Kapel !

Mandryka

Here's some Chopin preludes by a historic mystery pianist. If you don't know who it is you will NEVER guess. The sound is everything that the word "historic" suggests, but it's listenable.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b4s99gy3gxOghKE4Hb89XR5Cdt_9-N3o/view?usp=sharing
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Florestan

Looks like Fou Ts'ong recorded the Mazurkas two times:

The complete set on Sony Classics



and just 18 of them on Westminster:



What is your preference between these two, folks?

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Mandryka

Quote from: Florestan on May 30, 2022, 10:49:22 AM
Looks like Fou Ts'ong recorded the Mazurkas two times:

The complete set on Sony Classics



and just 18 of them on Westminster:



What is your preference between these two, folks?

There is also this


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mazurkas-by-Fou-Tsong-2009-11-10/dp/B01K8R6MEM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1K6VUVD3K3EOV&keywords=four+mazurkas+cd&qid=1653939787&sprefix=fou+mazurkas+cd%2Caps%2C63&sr=8-1
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Dry Brett Kavanaugh


Mandryka

#249
Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on May 30, 2022, 08:42:04 PM
Yes, it is a great recording while I like the Sony set as well!

I'm sorry, I put the wrong link in, I meant to point out Nina Milkina's recording

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/nov01/Chopin_Mazurkas.htm

That Fou recordinb on a Pleyel seems to me to be less interesting than his Sony disc. I don't know the Nonsuch one.  But the Milkina is everything that the musicweb review says it is.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: Mandryka on May 30, 2022, 11:58:36 PM
I'm sorry, I put the wrong link in, I meant to point out Nina Milkina's recording

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/nov01/Chopin_Mazurkas.htm

That Fou recordinb on a Pleyel seems to me to be less interesting than his Sony disc. I don't know the Nonsuch one.  But the Milkina is everything that the musicweb review says it is.

Ok, I will send an email to the address mentioned in the article!

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

staxomega

#252
Quote from: Florestan on May 30, 2022, 10:49:22 AM
Looks like Fou Ts'ong recorded the Mazurkas two times:

The complete set on Sony Classics



and just 18 of them on Westminster:



What is your preference between these two, folks?

The performances are slightly better on the Westminster, but at the time of me hearing the Sony set a few times I considered it in my top 1 or 2 favorite sets, and I still do.

Quote from: Mandryka on May 28, 2022, 09:06:40 AM
You should listen to Cortot (the 1955 Munich recital has good sound -- best performance is earlier probably), Demidenko, Arrau live in Prague, Perahia, Wojciec Switala, Pletnev in Dubai last week, Shura Cherkassky, Pogorelich, Vladimir Tropp, Emil Gilels possibly, Deszo Ranki's second recording (be careful, not the first), Pollini in 1975 (I can let you have it), Friedrich Gulda, Sofro in Tokyo maybe, Moiseiewitsch maybe (however it's spelt.) I haven't kept up with recent performances, but that should keep you busy for a while.

I lied about taking a break from them  ;D I listened to Arrau 1960 live in Prague, APR CD if that is the one you mean? There is a lot of continuous background noise, with heavy breathing and white noise in the audience. I thought Arrau's phrasing was a bit strange in many of them. Due to the sound quality I only listened to the first ten. I haven't heard his Philips recording in ages, if I am remembering right I liked nearly all his Chopin recordings on Philips, maybe save for the waltzes.

Quote from: Mandryka on May 30, 2022, 11:58:36 PM

That Fou recordinb on a Pleyel seems to me to be less interesting than his Sony disc. I don't know the Nonsuch one.  But the Milkina is everything that the musicweb review says it is.

Yes, I agree. I bought that "Real Chopin" box years ago, and didn't think his interpretations of the Mazurkas was anything revolutionary like on the Westminster or Sony, for instance I didn't think to look more into his recordings because of that Pleyel recording.

Mandryka

#253
As far as I can see there's no other live Arrau recording of op. 28.

What some people say they can hear in the Prague performance is that somehow magically he creates a sense of flow, logical movement, from one prelude to the next. So that the whole thing seems like a single piece of music. No one ever explains what he's doing to create this effect, and it's the sort of suggestion which can hypnotise, a sort of group think which even this post is contributing to. I'm afraid I've been hypnotised.

Here's Jed Distler on it

https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-5821/

I didn't notice any problematic ideas about phrasing in there. The sound didn't create a problem for me either - I think the transfer is rather good actually, despite the audience noise etc.

I don't know that I've ever listened to the Philips recording, if I have it clearly didn't have an impact.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Enjoying some Mazurkas in this album this evening.




Dry Brett Kavanaugh

A few mazurkas and some other things. I think this is a likable recording while I am not a big fan of his other recordings.




 

staxomega

Quote from: Mandryka on May 31, 2022, 07:50:28 PM
As far as I can see there's no other live Arrau recording of op. 28.

What some people say they can hear in the Prague performance is that somehow magically he creates a sense of flow, logical movement, from one prelude to the next. So that the whole thing seems like a single piece of music. No one ever explains what he's doing to create this effect, and it's the sort of suggestion which can hypnotise, a sort of group think which even this post is contributing to. I'm afraid I've been hypnotised.

Here's Jed Distler on it

https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-5821/

I didn't notice any problematic ideas about phrasing in there. The sound didn't create a problem for me either - I think the transfer is rather good actually, despite the audience noise etc.

I don't know that I've ever listened to the Philips recording, if I have it clearly didn't have an impact.

I gave this a listen on speakers, this is a lot more palatable than on in ear monitors that inject the sound straight into your head while isolating all outside noise.

There is something strange about this in that his tempi sound brisker than they actually are, with a handful of exceptions the timings on each prelude are very near identical to the Philips recording (Jed Distler also calls the tempi brisk, I wonder if he looked at the timings between the two? It's easy with both in a playlist); I don't have my Complete American Decca box at this house to see if he recorded this twice in the studio, so I am using the 1980s Chopin Philips box, and it says these studio recordings are from 1973.

The major thing that stands out to me between the two is there is a somewhat detached quality to the live recording, like being on the outside looking in. The Philips is much more conventional in how grounded it is. I do agree with Jed Distler that there is less reckless abandon on the 1973 studio. Where he says "What's more, Arrau's organic feeling for the music's underlying polyphony (as opposed to picking out "inner voices" at random) belies Richard Wagner's description of Chopin as a "one handed composer" is pretty evident on the Philips as well.

The live recording might just be too subtle for me  ;D

Mandryka



I remember once driving right across London, that's a long drive, listening to Rubinstein's first recording. What really impressed me then was the sense that each mazurka is freshly minted and each mazurka has its own personality. I didn't want to change the CD in the car at all. There is nothing blasé about this cycle. Something of that feeling remains today. It's well worth listening to.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#258
Quote from: Mandryka on June 25, 2015, 04:40:15 AM


Janina Fialkowska plays Chopin's mazurkas. This is some of the the most emotionally subtle, nuanced and varied, the most beautiful, the most focused, mazurka playing I have heard.  It is also the least stormy, the least passionate, the most "tasteful", the most genteel.

Back to this for the first time in 7 years and what I said before is what I'd say now. Not for me in my current state of mind, but it may well be for someone else. It's a bit buttoned up - maybe a bit overthunk. The sound is state of the art studio processed piano.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka



Anyone know anything about Maria Christina Mohovich?  Some of these mazurkas seem so strong and characterful they make me think of Tipo's nocturnes. There's a good Schumann Cd too - symphonic etudes.
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