Chopin Recordings

Started by George, April 06, 2007, 06:00:36 AM

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George

#1560


What do people think of Hough's set of Chopin Nocturnes?

The reviews are superb, but after sampling them a bit, I can't say I want to hear more. A similar thing happened with Hough's Rachmaninoff piano concertos, so maybe I just don't like him.
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

JBS

Quote from: George on March 23, 2022, 05:01:26 PM


What do people think of Hough's set of Chopin Nocturnes?

The reviews are superb, but after sampling them a bit, I can't say I want to hear more. A similar thing happened with Hough's Rachmaninoff piano concertos, so maybe I just don't like him.

I think it's quite good, but at the same time it's not really any better than a dozen other easily available performances. It's rather middle of the road--perhaps a recording not to get for oneself, but very suitable to get as a gift for someone just getting into Chopin.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

George

Quote from: JBS on March 23, 2022, 06:18:32 PM
I think it's quite good, but at the same time it's not really any better than a dozen other easily available performances. It's rather middle of the road--perhaps a recording not to get for oneself, but very suitable to get as a gift for someone just getting into Chopin.

Good point.

I really love the Chopin Nocturnes, so I'm always on the lookout for more great (unique) recordings. 
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Mandryka

Quote from: George on March 23, 2022, 05:01:26 PM


What do people think of Hough's set of Chopin Nocturnes?

The reviews are superb, but after sampling them a bit, I can't say I want to hear more. A similar thing happened with Hough's Rachmaninoff piano concertos, so maybe I just don't like him.

They're happy nocturnes. 23 reasons to be cheerful.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

Quote from: Mandryka on May 18, 2019, 05:32:49 AM


I feel quite inspired by this. He plays delicately, there's never anything very loud and uncouth, he creates poetic textures, intricate as lace. And maybe most impressively of all the rubato seems natural and fluid. In some ways he reminds me of Moravec, maybe it's his reticence about strong dynamic variation. I find myself enjoying it for longer than with Moravec in fact, though that's of no consequence to anyone but me I suppose. I don't know what type of piano, credit is given in the booklet to the tuner but I don't know if he's done anything special.

I just mentioned Goerner's reticence about exploring the extremes of a modern piano's dynamic range, there's another reticence too -- an emotional reticence. Or rather, an emotional complexity. I hear in this interpretation very little by way of jejune romantic effusion. There is expression aplenty, but it's complex, nuanced. These nocturnes are full of relief, full of twists and turns.

In the booklet there's an essay by someone called Christophe Ghristi which says this, which I thought was food for thought, and it just may be the there's some mutual inspiration between copy writer and musician here (not that I know much about Liszt, still less about Field, so take that with a pinch of salt! But it is lyrical, and it does make me want to hear Goerner play Mozart!)

Back to this, first time in three years. It's really good! Same feeling as I had in 2019.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

staxomega

#1565
Quote from: Mandryka on May 09, 2022, 01:05:42 AM
Back to this, first time in three years. It's really good! Same feeling as I had in 2019.

Yes, I like this quite a bit as well though it wouldn't quite make my top 5. Many of the qualities you've written about I hear in Pascal Amoyel which is one of my favorites, let me know if you want to hear it. In op. 37/1 he plays the middle section much more tenderly and beautifully than Moravec on Nonesuch, who sounds like he wants to get through it.

My post on Goerner from another thread:

Quote from: hvbias on November 23, 2019, 09:40:53 AM
I listened to Goerner- his playing isn't crystal clear in that he uses a decent amount of pedal to create more of a painted dreamscape. This leads to an overall rich sonority with not the most distinct tonal colors. Any rubato he uses feels unforced and quite natural. He also plays with great dynamic range, but it's restrained and only brought out when called for. Natural is the word I keep coming back to thinking of this as a whole. A highly interesting set, and an easy purchase quickly ordered from Amazon. It has that X factor where after it's finished I'm thinking about playing it again.

Based off what I've heard on this I'm lead to believe his Debussy should be worth checking out.

(removed thoughts Kun Woo Paik, I just need to listen to this more before judging it)

I will try to remember to hear his Debussy this week plus he recently recorded Iberia.

Mandryka

#1566


I think the op 58 sonata is a bit special here, quite original. Introspective melancholy is the dominant mood in the first movement -- the third, paradoxically, comes across to me as more cheerful! Ingolf Wunder seems to have all but disappeared, missed the boat or didn't want to take the boat. Shame that!
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

George

Quote from: Mandryka on September 20, 2022, 10:27:15 AM


I think the op 58 sonata is a bit special here, quite original. Introspective melancholy is the dominant mood in the first movement -- the third, paradoxically, comes across to me as more cheerful! Ingolf Wunder seems to have all but disappeared, missed the boat or didn't want to take the boat.

One can only wunder.
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Mandryka

An unfeasibly long - but I think beautiful - fluid and delicate - Barcarolle from Evgeni Bozhanov in Lisbon in 2015

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5XXnJiXPlrc
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Todd

Quote from: Mandryka on September 21, 2022, 05:41:55 AM
An unfeasibly long - but I think beautiful - fluid and delicate - Barcarolle from Evgeni Bozhanov in Lisbon in 2015

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5XXnJiXPlrc

Notably slower than his Warsaw performance, and not quite as successful, but still lovely to listen to nonetheless.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Mandryka

Joyce Hatto's Chopin etudes recording was filched from many pianists' releases, but mainly these three:

Mitchiko Tsuda

https://open.spotify.com/album/5tYPkxVt1atYIMv6bVEC90

Yuki Matsuzawa

https://open.spotify.com/album/029jOZisMb6DiWoF6JEDL2

Vardan Mamikonian

https://open.spotify.com/album/5fDEiZMo9JU6aFPRgpSEEq

I intend to listen to these recordings over the next few days. I have the original Concert Artists release -- I like it.

http://www.farhanmalik.com/hatto/chopin1.html


So far, first impressions you understand, are that Tsuda and Matsuzawa are well worth exploring.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

vers la flamme

I know Fou Ts'ong's Chopin has gained some traction in recent years following the pianist's death; it looks like a lot of it can be had really cheaply here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144329323036

JBS

Quote from: vers la flamme on October 23, 2022, 03:39:24 PM
I know Fou Ts'ong's Chopin has gained some traction in recent years following the pianist's death; it looks like a lot of it can be had really cheaply here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144329323036

It's readily available on Amazon.
[Asin]B098S1FJ4H[/asin]

The Complete Westminster Recordings set is here
[Asin]‎B09L6CB45S[/asin]

I have the Sony set. I have to admit I disliked his recording of the Nocturnes: too quick and no real feeling to them.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: Mandryka on October 23, 2022, 07:04:38 AM
Joyce Hatto's Chopin etudes recording was filched from many pianists' releases, but mainly these three:

Mitchiko Tsuda

https://open.spotify.com/album/5tYPkxVt1atYIMv6bVEC90

Yuki Matsuzawa

https://open.spotify.com/album/029jOZisMb6DiWoF6JEDL2

Vardan Mamikonian

https://open.spotify.com/album/5fDEiZMo9JU6aFPRgpSEEq

I intend to listen to these recordings over the next few days. I have the original Concert Artists release -- I like it.

http://www.farhanmalik.com/hatto/chopin1.html


So far, first impressions you understand, are that Tsuda and Matsuzawa are well worth exploring.

The Matsuzawa is not available in North America, it seems. I will check it out when I am out of USA. The Michiko evinces solid dexterity.

Jo498

Matsuzawa was a dirt cheap twofer, but oop

[asin]B0002YLDDW[/asin]

[asin]B0000267VZ[/asin]
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: Mandryka on October 24, 2022, 03:42:22 AM
Yuki Matsuzawa playing the Chopin etude op 25/7. I've fallen in love, I am a Matsuzawa op 27/7 addict, I can die happy. It's so elegant. So intelligent. That Chopopopin rag!

https://open.spotify.com/track/5Hhft...86a2f423384870


;D
What do you mean by "intelligent" ? How could you tell? (Though she in fact graduated from the most prestigious, elite conservatory in Japan.)

Mandryka

Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on October 24, 2022, 02:54:07 PM

;D
What do you mean by "intelligent" ? How could you tell? (Though she in fact graduated from the most prestigious, elite conservatory in Japan.)

It was a parody of A Game of Chess from Eliot's The Wasteland

My nerves are bad to-night. Yes, bad. Stay with me.
"Speak to me. Why do you never speak? Speak.
"What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?
"I never know what you are thinking. Think."
I think we are in rats' alley
Where the dead men lost their bones.
"What is that noise?"
The wind under the door.
"What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?"
Nothing again nothing.
"Do
"You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember
"Nothing?"
I remember
Those are pearls that were his eyes.125
"Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?"
But
O O O O that Shakespeherian rag—
It's so elegant
So intelligent
"What shall I do now? What shall I do?"
"I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street
"With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow?
"What shall we ever do?"
The hot water at ten.
And if it rains, a closed car at four.
And we shall play a game of chess,
Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.




Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

vers la flamme

Quote from: JBS on October 23, 2022, 05:03:51 PM
It's readily available on Amazon.
[Asin]B098S1FJ4H[/asin]

The Complete Westminster Recordings set is here
[Asin]‎B09L6CB45S[/asin]

I have the Sony set. I have to admit I disliked his recording of the Nocturnes: too quick and no real feeling to them.

My ebay link is cheaper, $14  ;D

Dry Brett Kavanaugh


Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen