Chopin Recordings

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

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.

I am not very familiar with Chopin Etudes, but to me Mamikonian sounds very good. Also, I liked Cziffra's Etudes in the Senlis 4 disc set. Did Cziffra record complete or near-complete Etudes?

P.s. I also like the Dezso Ranki though the sound quality is mediocre.

[Jo498]

Cziffra recorded at least one complete set of both op.10 and 25, rec. Paris 1962. They are in the Chopin 5 disc set on EMI (several incarnations). According to my information these are the same recordings that appeared on LP on the Philips label.

[JBS]

Cziffra recorded at least one complete set of both op.10 and 25, rec. Paris 1962. They are in the Chopin 5 disc set on EMI (several incarnations). According to my information these are the same recordings that appeared on LP on the Philips label.

I have that as part of the Complete Cziffra set. I've also got the Samson Francois set, which includes his 1959 recording of the Etudes. It's in mono and should be available in other guises. To be truthful, I prefer Francois to Cziffra in almost everything they both recorded--the exception being Liszt.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I have that as part of the Complete Cziffra set. I've also got the Samson Francois set, which includes his 1959 recording of the Etudes. It's in mono and should be available in other guises. To be truthful, I prefer Francois to Cziffra in almost everything they both recorded--the exception being Liszt.

I will check the Francois set. I also like the Miłosz Magin recordings of Etudes and others.

[Mandryka]

It's hard to get enjoyable performances of these etudes for me, especially op 10. Some of the earlier performers did a job which I like - Cortot and Lortat for example - there was a really good transfer on YouTube of the Lortat.

For modern performances I remember enjoying Francois-René Duchable, and of course Matsuzawa. Anievas can be fun in some moods too.

[Holden]

Cziffra recorded at least one complete set of both op.10 and 25, rec. Paris 1962. They are in the Chopin 5 disc set on EMI (several incarnations). According to my information these are the same recordings that appeared on LP on the Philips label.

The Cziffra Etudes also appeared on his GPOTTC CDs. The Op 10 is one of the more quirkier versions as Cziffra goes all out for bravura and virtuosity. The Op 25 is a different kettle of fish and is one of the better sets I've heard. I've also got them on the 40 CD box set.

[Jo498]

I don't really care for op.10 but I admittedly never spent so much time with it. I love op.25 and my favorite is Sokolov (a live recording from around 1990, I think).

IIRC my favorite Chopin by Cziffra are the 4th (and 3rd) Ballades and the f minor fantasy (there are also some live recordings, Ermitage or similar labels).

[Mandryka]

I just got out the Anievas recording, it really is very good, I feel as though I may have to have to revisit more of his recordings.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The Cziffra Etudes also appeared on his GPOTTC CDs. The Op 10 is one of the more quirkier versions as Cziffra goes all out for bravura and virtuosity. The Op 25 is a different kettle of fish and is one of the better sets I've heard. I've also got them on the 40 CD box set.

Thanks for the info. I can easily imagine what it is like. 

I don't really care for op.10 but I admittedly never spent so much time with it. I love op.25 and my favorite is Sokolov (a live recording from around 1990, I think).

IIRC my favorite Chopin by Cziffra are the 4th (and 3rd) Ballades and the f minor fantasy (there are also some live recordings, Ermitage or similar labels).

I enjoy listening to the left hand, chordal progression, and the ideas/methods of arpeggio-nizing the chords.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Checking out some Etudes by another Japanese player, Nobuyuki Tsujii.


 

[Holden]

I just got out the Anievas recording, it really is very good, I feel as though I may have to have to revisit more of his recordings.

The Anievas recording of the Etudes is excellent. He does some really amazing technical things which don't come across as such until you listen again. One example is the dynamic contrasts he uses in Op 10/1. The piece is hard enough to play as it is but to add this element is incredible. I have an EMI twofer which, as well as the Etudes, includes the 19 waltzes (also excellent) and the ballades which are a step down from the other two but still very good.

[Mandryka]

The Anievas recording of the Etudes is excellent. He does some really amazing technical things which don't come across as such until you listen again. One example is the dynamic contrasts he uses in Op 10/1. The piece is hard enough to play as it is but to add this element is incredible. I have an EMI twofer which, as well as the Etudes, includes the 19 waltzes (also excellent) and the ballades which are a step down from the other two but still very good.

I thought his op 58 was impressive too. I've just ordered this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004P0BUEG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Holden]

I was hoping that spotify or Qobuz would have this but no luck. It would be interesting to compare to two sets of Op 10.

The recent posts in this thread have made me think about my evolution through Etudes recordings to see where my preferences lie today. I started on LP with the classic DGG Pollini which for me was quite electrifying at the time - especially as I was trying out some of the etudes for myself. Today I would describe them as tending more toward bravura and less towards their musical qualities but it took me quite a while to understand that.

My next purchase was the Gavrilov also in the same vein as Pollini and I loved it. However, it wasn't until I heard Cortot that I began to see the musical roots of these 24 pieces. Ashkenazy's Moscow recording from 1960 quickly became a favourite as he brought out much more of the musical qualities of the set.

I listened to many recordings in my local CD store (remember those?) and then online. The store got me purchasing the Anievas and I haven't regretted it. Online I got the recording that Pollini made shortly after his Chopin competition win in 1960 and it's better than the DGG from the 70s. I also have Cziffra as mentioned in an earlier post. Dino Ciani is also there as part of a 6 CD box set and another pianist who can vary the dynamics of Op 10/1. There is a complete set from Fiorentino as part of a box set. He has a unique but not idiosyncratic way with Chopin (just listen to his Op 28) and he makes it work for a lot of the 24. One of the musical sets but technique is there in spades

Now come a couple of single sets of Op 25. Sokolov really understood this set and it's well worth a listen. However, the jewel in the crown, despite it being mono and not in the best of sound is Grigori Ginsburg. It's on YT if you want to sample it. I could mention many others that I've heard but don't own but this will do for now.

[Mandryka]

Robert Lortat is a good one to hear, if you can find the Dante transfer of the etudes. This transfer of the Waltzes is excellent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqS_vsebVnI&t=1731s&ab_channel=ThePianoFiles

[Holden]

Robert Lortat is a good one to hear, if you can find the Dante transfer of the etudes. This transfer of the Waltzes is excellent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqS_vsebVnI&t=1731s&ab_channel=ThePianoFiles

Found the Lortat Etudes on YT - listening now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yXkCtXWFok

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

That's a recording before the Great Depression, New Deal, WWII, etc.. 

[staxomega]

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.

He plays the Nocturnes like Koczalski/Rosenthal/Smeterlin/de Pachmann- brisk and stylistically sort of like mazurkas. I listen to all of these pianists in small doses for the Nocturnes, but ultimately I agree they are a miss. I am much more a fan of the Arrau inspired style that most pianists now treat it like, rather than that pre-war Polish style.

I don't really care for op.10 but I admittedly never spent so much time with it. I love op.25 and my favorite is Sokolov (a live recording from around 1990, I think).

IIRC my favorite Chopin by Cziffra are the 4th (and 3rd) Ballades and the f minor fantasy (there are also some live recordings, Ermitage or similar labels).

Sokolov has the best performances I've heard for op. 25, I don't have the CDs in front of me at this house so I can't check the recording date, the one I like is the Naive CD coupled with a superb set of Preludes and a very good Piano Sonata 2. That set of Preludes probably cracks my top 3.

[Mandryka]

That's a recording before the Great Depression, New Deal, WWII, etc.. 

This also - and also very good I think
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LE_ftBizu0E

[vers la flamme]

Not sure I agree with the dismissals of Fou's performances of the Nocturnes; to me, they sound lovely and full of feeling. Of course, I'm quite sure you all know a lot more about Chopin than I do, and I do hear the comment that his approach to them is quicker and Mazurka-like. I've only heard maybe two or three other recordings of the Nocturnes. I also very much love the performances by Claudio Arrau and Ivan Moravec.

I urge you all to jump on this amazing deal and buy the complete Columbia Chopin recordings by Fou Ts'ong for $14 while it's still available. What a steal.

[staxomega]

Not sure I agree with the dismissals of Fou's performances of the Nocturnes; to me, they sound lovely and full of feeling. Of course, I'm quite sure you all know a lot more about Chopin than I do, and I do hear the comment that his approach to them is quicker and Mazurka-like. I've only heard maybe two or three other recordings of the Nocturnes. I also very much love the performances by Claudio Arrau and Ivan Moravec.

I urge you all to jump on this amazing deal and buy the complete Columbia Chopin recordings by Fou Ts'ong for $14 while it's still available. What a steal.

That wasn't me that said they were played without feeling, to me it sounds like he is really in love with the music and all the Chopin he plays. I think this is the only way he knew how to play Chopin seeing who he was taught by in Poland. The mazurka-like comment from me is because of the amount of rubato he uses instead of following the longer harmonic lines (Amoyel, Wasowski) combined with the brisker tempi. I'd take Ts'ong in Chopin any day over some bland "note perfect" pianists. That style of playing Chopin was starting to fall out of favor as early as the 1940s, for instance you can hear Cortot's late performances are not the same as his earlier ones due to the brow beating from myopic critics as pianists started to change their style of interpretation. It's amazing that Ts'ong lived as long as he did carrying on that old tradition.

I preordered both the Sony and Eloquence boxes the moment I saw them and like I was telling Pohjolas Daughter I've got 100+ hours of listening enjoyment from them (my preference for his Chopin performances is Westminster where Chopin is duplicated, but the Sony recordings were my introduction to him and I was immediately in love). I've seen several of his LPs sell for considerably more than the prices of both those boxes combined and I wasn't going to miss out on them.

On a brighter note I think we're starting to get back to where more creativity is encouraged, like Beatrice Rana's Chopin Scherzi are the best I've heard in 30 years.