Chopin Recordings

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

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aquablob

Quote from: B_cereus on March 04, 2009, 12:46:18 PM
a couple of years ago i picked up a really cheap CD of Chopin nocturnes/etudes/fantasie-op49 played by an obscure pianist called Dubravka Tomsic and i was quite impressed. it may be bargain bucket, but i think this pianist's Chopin is really good and bears comparison with more famous names.



I wouldn't call her obscure, although I'm not personally acquainted with her recordings (I've heard good things :)).

rubio

I don't see much mention of William Kapell in this thread. How would you characterize his Chopin, and which CD's are highly recommendable?

I also wonder if any of you have heard Rosita Renard. This VAI recording is quite tempting.

http://www.amazon.com/Rosita-Renard-at-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B000003LJ1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1236282735&sr=1-1

"One good thing about music, when it hits- you feel no pain" Bob Marley

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darĂ¼ber muss man schweigen

Peregrine

Yes, we have no bananas

ezodisy

Quote from: rubio on March 05, 2009, 10:57:59 AM
I also wonder if any of you have heard Rosita Renard. This VAI recording is quite tempting.

http://www.amazon.com/Rosita-Renard-at-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B000003LJ1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1236282735&sr=1-1



great disc, she had an amazing style for Chopin. I think George has that.

IIRC she studied with Arrau's teacher as well and was quite good friends with him.

Holden

Quote from: B_cereus on March 04, 2009, 12:46:18 PM
a couple of years ago i picked up a really cheap CD of Chopin nocturnes/etudes/fantasie-op49 played by an obscure pianist called Dubravka Tomsic and i was quite impressed. it may be bargain bucket, but i think this pianist's Chopin is really good and bears comparison with more famous names.



Tomsic is a seriously underrated pianist who you can only find on minor budget labels. On the downside she is sometimes attributed as the performer when she is not (Chopin Waltzes for example). Check out her Waldstein!
Cheers

Holden

orbital

Quote from: rubio on March 05, 2009, 10:57:59 AM
I don't see much mention of William Kapell in this thread. How would you characterize his Chopin, and which CD's are highly recommendable?

I have been listening to his Mazurkas CD (the first CD of the Kapell Edition set) with pleasure for a couple of years now. It is not a complete set by any means, but there is a pretty good selection from almost each published op. The sound quality is more than adequate.

Kapell's playing of these pieces may indeed be my favorite along with Luisada. His approach is more dance than melancholy. I find them indispensable.

rubio

Quote from: orbital on March 06, 2009, 12:17:12 AM
I have been listening to his Mazurkas CD (the first CD of the Kapell Edition set) with pleasure for a couple of years now. It is not a complete set by any means, but there is a pretty good selection from almost each published op. The sound quality is more than adequate.

Kapell's playing of these pieces may indeed be my favorite along with Luisada. His approach is more dance than melancholy. I find them indispensable.

Thank you for the comment, orbital. Dance approach sounds appetizing to me, so I will proceed.
"One good thing about music, when it hits- you feel no pain" Bob Marley

orbital

Quote from: rubio on March 06, 2009, 12:23:07 AM
Thank you for the comment, orbital. Dance approach sounds appetizing to me, so I will proceed.
You're very welcome. If you are fine with 256kbps mp3's, I think Amazon offers the CD download.

George

Quote from: ezodisy on March 05, 2009, 10:21:44 PM
great disc, she had an amazing style for Chopin. I think George has that.


I do, but I have only heard it once, I need another listen to have anything to say about the 2 CD set.

ezodisy

Quote from: George on March 06, 2009, 02:41:21 AM
I do, but I have only heard it once, I need another listen to have anything to say about the 2 CD set.

I don't remember the second CD, but the live first one with Chopin has a couple special pieces on it. Sort of depends how much of a collector/specialist/ you are in wanting this set just for several pieces I guess

dirkronk

Quote from: rubio on March 05, 2009, 10:57:59 AM
I also wonder if any of you have heard Rosita Renard. This VAI recording is quite tempting.

http://www.amazon.com/Rosita-Renard-at-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B000003LJ1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1236282735&sr=1-1



Presuming it's not selling for an outrageous price, buy the set. Don't get it for the Chopin especially. Just get it. It has essentially everything you'll likely ever find by Rosita Renard, and it acts as both a memento of special talent and a frustrating hint of what we as listeners might have enjoyed, had Ms. Renard received the kind of support she deserved (re touring and recording) at the beginning of her adult career. The sad details are spelled out in the notes of the CD. The contents of the set are basically her "comeback" appearance at Carnegie in January 1949 (alas, she would die from sudden-onset health problems in May) and some individual 78 sides recorded IIRC sometime in the late 1920s. The privately-issued LP set of the Carnegie concert was quite a collector item for years, typically selling in the hundreds of bucks; I lucked into a set about two decades ago and still own it.

I won't say that any of this playing is ideal, whether in Chopin or other composers, but especially in the live concert Renard's keyboard command, her attack, her sense of phrasing and her sheer presence are all quite compelling. The opening Bach partita sets the stage: she is forthright and fearless. That and the following Mozart sonata #15 are particular faves of mine. In the famous Chopin etude op.10/3, she presents it openly, almost raw, and yet she convinces you that this IS the way to hear it, and extraordinary poetry comes through even though she refuses to milk it. Oh, and minor finger slips aside, it's obvious that this woman has NO technical difficulties. Damn. I'm depressing myself. Never mind. Get the set. Listen. It's good stuff...really...and definitely worth having in your collection.

Cheers,

Dirk

George

Quote from: dirkronk on March 06, 2009, 06:10:25 AM
Presuming it's not selling for an outrageous price, buy the set. Don't get it for the Chopin especially. Just get it. It has essentially everything you'll likely ever find by Rosita Renard, and it acts as both a memento of special talent and a frustrating hint of what we as listeners might have enjoyed, had Ms. Renard received the kind of support she deserved (re touring and recording) at the beginning of her adult career.

More and more, I have begun to notice what a special label VAI is.

dirkronk

Quote from: George on March 06, 2009, 06:14:23 AM
More and more, I have begun to notice what a special label VAI is.

Quite so, George.

BTW, I don't know if online selling venues mention it, but Ward Marston did the transfers for the VAI set...and very nicely, too. The piano sound is solid throughout the concert. There are crowd noises--and one false start of applause when Renard goes ultra-soft in fingering during a Chopin piece!--but for the most part these aren't intrusive.

Dirk

rubio

Thank you very much for this interesting write-up, dirkronk! I'm quite sure I will get hold of this disc before it disappears.
"One good thing about music, when it hits- you feel no pain" Bob Marley

George

I posted this in the listening thread, but since this pianist doesn't get mentioned very often, I thought I'd post it here as well.



The performance of the concerto, while played with beauty and grace, was not individual or special enough to be particularly memorable. The Preludes are performed more successfully, with a nice slow and dark #2, just the way I like it. She does much better with the slower Preludes, which are played with luminous, romantic beauty. The fast ones are handled well from a technical standpoint, but lack that last bit of excitement that other pianists bring to this music. Overall, this is a set of Preludes that I recommend and expect to return to. The recorded sound is lovely.

Herman

#516
So you would recommend Pires' Preludes over say, Arrau or Bolet? Or would you recommend them as set nr 6?

Pires' Nocturnes didn't impress me too much. Except for the Op 15 ones I thought they were pretty much m.o.r.

ezodisy

Mandryka, if you want to hear a great performance of op. 25/11, you could try Ginzburg's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWgUAhTveSY

Someone has uploaded a video of Ginzburg playing waltz 64/2 which I guess is from that DVD released in Japan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkG4LEne_0U

There are a couple videos of Goldenweiser playing Chopin too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDUKntUFU9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbtVuaws8so

I'm not saying they're great or anything

While we're on old school videos here's one of H. Neuhaus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Colki_YMhw8&;

orbital

Quote from: Herman on March 08, 2009, 09:11:33 AM
So you would recommend Pires' Preludes over say, Arrau or Bolet? Or would you recommend them as set nr 6?

Pires' Nocturnes didn't impress me too much. Except for the Op 15 ones I thought they were pretty much m.o.r.
She is the kind of Chopin player I can't take (especially in large doses). Her nocturnes set was a big disappointment for me, and I don't think I played them past a couple of times. There is not reason to extra-romanticise the nocturnes like Pires does, because then they become those soggy tearjerkers which they are not.


George

Quote from: orbital on March 09, 2009, 03:55:04 AM
She is the kind of Chopin player I can't take (especially in large doses). Her nocturnes set was a big disappointment for me, and I don't think I played them past a couple of times. There is not reason to extra-romanticise the nocturnes like Pires does, because then they become those soggy tearjerkers which they are not.

After hearing her preludes, I decided to seek out a copy of the Nocturnes.

When I first started listening to classical music, I had a narrow definition of pianists/composers/works that I enjoy. As a result of coming here, I was encouraged to expand my definition of what I found to be acceptable and ultimately enjoyable. As a result, I have enjoyed many pianists/composers/works that I probably never would have given a second thought. I expected that the pendulum would swing back and I would begin to narrow my focus again, to a more reasonable degree. For some reason, this never really happened. I haven't (perhaps yet?) found a specific taste for certain composers/works. Who knows? Perhaps it will change in the future. Sure would save me a lot of money.  ;D Until that day (if it comes), I will enjoy the journey.