Chopin Recordings

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

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George

I have always loved the post. c# minor Nocturne by Chopin. I discovered tonight that I have 11 recordings of it - Arrau, Ashkenazy, Vasary, Wasowski, Ciccolini, Tipo, Pires, Simon, Freire, Boegner and Ricardo Castro.

I compared them and found Wasowski to be my favorite. His has the slowest tempo of all the versions I compared and this helps to create a dark, mysterious mood that works well with this work. Arrau was a close second, with a gorgeous tone and great sound. I also enjoyed Abbey Simon and Ricardo Castro's reading of this work.


George

Quote from: George on March 30, 2010, 03:46:30 PM
I have always loved the post. c# minor Nocturne by Chopin. I discovered tonight that I have 11 recordings of it - Arrau, Ashkenazy, Vasary, Wasowski, Ciccolini, Tipo, Pires, Simon, Freire, Boegner and Ricardo Castro.

I compared them and found Wasowski to be my favorite. His has the slowest tempo of all the versions I compared and this helps to create a dark, mysterious mood that works well with this work. Arrau was a close second, with a gorgeous tone and great sound. I also enjoyed Abbey Simon and Ricardo Castro's reading of this work.

Here's a sample of the Wasowski for those who are curious:

http://queencdmastering.wikispaces.com/file/detail/Wasowski+Chopin+Nocturne.mp3

Click the triangle on the bottom left to listen.

kishnevi

Quote from: George on March 30, 2010, 10:56:37 AM
I enjoy her Satie, so I should check that recital out, Thanks!

She's also done a complete Ravel; it's available as a Virgin double disc.

Brian

Cross-posting: I will always, always associate the nocturne in C sharp minor (my favorite of all the nocturnes) with Wladyslaw Szpilman, aka "The Pianist"; it was the work which quite literally saved his life in the Warsaw Ghetto when he played it to a German officer who had discovered his hiding place. Here's Szpilman's 1946 performance, which began the reconstruction relaunch of Polish Radio. It's a whole minute faster than Wasowski, but has a magic of its own (maybe a consequence of the circumstances in which it was recorded).

George

Chopin Ballades

I have been working on a survey of pianists who have recorded all four of Chopin's lovely Ballades. Over the years I have accumulated a number of different interpretations and thought it would be useful to compare them.

The pianists used in this survey are Moiseiwitsch, Cortot (Naxos), Ashkenazy (1960s and 1980s), Gulda, Entremont, Perahia, Zimerman, Rubinstein, Arrau, Moravec, Vasary, Gavrilov, Anievas, Tipo (live, Ermitage), Richter (live, Praga) and Casadesus (live, Sony.)

To make things more manageable, I listened to each pianists Ballade number one and then only listened to Ballade two from pianists whom I felt excelled at Ballade number one. In the same way, I only listened to Ballade three from pianists who excelled at one and two. At this point, I had narrowed the list to seven pianists; Gavrilov, Moravec, Perahia, Cortot, Ashkenazy (1980s), Zimerman and Tipo (live, Ermitage.)  All seven did well enough in three so that I wanted to hear their fourth Ballade to make my final decisions. 

In the end, these were my findings. I enjoyed Cortot's but felt that he was hampered a great deal by poor sound and somewhat sloppy playing. Nevertheless, his set makes a fine historical choice, especially because his Ballades are coupled with a number of gorgeously played Nocturnes. Zimerman had a number of things going for him, including great sound, technique and finish. However, I often found his dynamic contrasts to be too extreme, too Lisztian for my taste. Perahia also had much going for him, beautiful playing throughout and also very nice sound. Unfortunately, his playing was often generic, lacking spontaneity and excitement found in other readings. Gavrilov played these works extremely well, but unfortunately interpreted these much like Zimerman. His forte chords at times sounded steely and downright banging. Ashkenazy's 1980's readings were better than all the above, though a few times his recordings were somewhat generic, sounding dull and/or less exciting than others.

Moravec's Ballades were much better than I had remembered. His slow tempos, dark piano sound, solid technique and sumptuous tone made for some special readings of these four works. His playing lacked some of Gavrilov and Zimerman's drama, but it certainly wasn't boring by any means. In fact, his set would be my favorite if it weren't for the very special live recording by Maria Tipo. Her intensity and beautiful tone throughout has to be heard to believed. Considering that all of the above performances were studio creations and, with the exception of Cortot, therefore likely benefited from editing and retakes. The sound of her piano seemed a bit out of tune in the first Ballade, but this annoyance quickly faded into the background as she continued. She was at her best in the third and fourth Ballades, where she played with all the requisite power, along with that special beauty I look for in my Chopin. This OOP Ermitage CD is well worth seeking out. Luckily the Moravec Ballades remain in print and at Budget price. 

Scarpia

Just came by this one:



Deluxe Philips boxed set, 13 CDs issued in 1992.  Treasure or Turkey?

George

Quote from: Scarpia on April 03, 2010, 05:37:53 PM
Just came by this one:



Deluxe Philips boxed set, 13 CDs issued in 1992.  Treasure or Turkey?


Harry's a big fan. Sidoze used to tease him about it all the time. I haven't heard anything from that box sorry.

Scarpia

There's also this set, only available on German Eloquence, if I'm not mistaken.


Coopmv

Quote from: Scarpia on April 03, 2010, 07:57:53 PM
There's also this set, only available on German Eloquence, if I'm not mistaken.



I thought Eloquence was issued as an Australian label.  No?

Scarpia

#789
Quote from: Coopmv on April 03, 2010, 08:00:36 PM
I thought Eloquence was issued as an Australian label.  No?

Universal Germany also has an eloquence series which shares the name and little else.  I've only seen it on amazon.de.  The German series all seems to have virtual surround sound processing called amsi, which has motivated me to largely avoid the series.



Mandryka

#790
Quote from: George on April 03, 2010, 02:36:55 PM
Chopin Ballades

I have been working on a survey of pianists who have recorded all four of Chopin's lovely Ballades . . .
Interesting.

You listened to some I haven't heard.

And I'm curious about what put you off Moiseiwitsch and Richter.

And I hope you used Cortot 1933 . 

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

George

Quote from: Mandryka on April 04, 2010, 12:21:51 AM
Interesting.

You listened to some I haven't heard.

And I'm curious about what put you off Moiseiwitsch and Richter.

I just never liked the former (though his preludes are very good), in fact it's taken me a long time to appreciate his pianism. The latter is just too intense on a few preludes, way over the top IMO.

Quote
And I hope you used Cortot 1933 .

I didn't. Just the Naxos (1929.) Why?

Mandryka

#792
Quote from: George on April 04, 2010, 04:41:06 AM

I didn't. Just the Naxos (1929.) Why?

It's a question of little details. I prefer Cortot's later one because of little things, like some amazing little trills leading up to the coda of the second ballade. But the 1929 one is fine -- just not as good IMO.

Does anyone know if he recorded any of the Ballades after the war?

I love that Richter first Ballade on Praga -- and the second and third. There's a unique Richter/Chopin melancholy which you hear really well in the soft opening to the G minor -- followed by hallucinatory, unchainmed explosive passages.

You need to be a bit neurotic, a bit mad, to play this music, I think. I'm not sure that Tipo was mad enough.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

George

Quote from: Mandryka on April 04, 2010, 05:22:16 AMYou need to be a bit neurotic, a bit mad, to play this music, I think. I'm not sure that Tipo was mad enough.

I don't get the connection. If you were talking about Scriabin or Schumann, I'd be inclined to agree, but mad to play Chopin? Can you explain this?

Mandryka

#794
Quote from: George on April 04, 2010, 05:41:14 AM
I don't get the connection. If you were talking about Scriabin or Schumann, I'd be inclined to agree, but mad to play Chopin? Can you explain this?

Yes I can have a go.

In Chopin things are sometimes not quite clear emotionally. Positive feelings don't last long or are tinged with darkness

If you don't feel this you get the sort of playing that Rubinstein often comes up with. Architecturally strong, lyrical, entertaining, in your face, straightforward.  But not so much psychhological depth. Or better, ambiguity.


If you do feel it you get Cortot. All those wierd little bass rumbles and funny little glissandi  Cortot makes you hear, like stabs of anxiety.

Sometimes Richter too -- in that Praga 3rd Ballade, for example.

The clearest example of the general  point I want to make is in the nocturnes. If you have them, listen to Rubinstein and Cortot side by side in the nocturne Op 55/1 or 27/1

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

George

Quote from: Mandryka on April 04, 2010, 07:48:08 AM
Yes I can have a go.

In Chopin things are sometimes not quite clear emotionally. Positive feelings don't last long or are tinged with darkness

If you don't feel this you get the sort of playing that Rubinstein often comes up with. Architecturally strong, lyrical, entertaining, in your face, straightforward.  But not so much psychhological depth. Or better, ambiguity.


If you do feel it you get Cortot. All those wierd little bass rumbles and funny little glissandi  Cortot makes you hear, like stabs of anxiety.

Sometimes Richter too -- in that Praga 3rd Ballade, for example.

The clearest example of the general  point I want to make is in the nocturnes. If you have them, listen to Rubinstein and Cortot side by side in the nocturne Op 55/1 or 27/1

Thanks for explaining, I think I see what you mean. Which Rubinstein do you suggest? I have all three sets.

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

George

Nice example, I see what you mean.

George

Quote from: Mandryka on April 04, 2010, 05:22:16 AM
It's a question of little details. I prefer Cortot's later one because of little things, like some amazing little trills leading up to the coda of the second ballade. But the 1929 one is fine -- just not as good IMO.

I am listening to the 1933 now and it's definitely better. Most of all, you can hear the pianist better, as the microphones seemed to have been placed closer to the piano. Or perhaps it was simply the advances in recording between 1929 and 1933? Still, it has that typical EMI filtering in the upper frequencies that I despise.  :-\

George

Quote from: Mandryka on April 04, 2010, 05:22:16 AM
You need to be a bit neurotic, a bit mad, to play this music, I think.

Does this mean that you are a big fan of Horowitz's Chopin?