Chopin Recordings

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

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 11 Guests are viewing this topic.

Coopmv

Quote from: Brian on November 11, 2012, 06:40:54 AM
Do try to find Sudbin's CD, if only because I feel like I'm the only person who's heard it and my enthusiasm is therefore making me question my own taste.  ;D I've only heard 6 or so of the mazurkas from Sherman; some things came off better than others is a good way of putting it, but I look forward to hearing the rest. At least he's doing something different.

If George gives his seal of approval, this CD will be on my shopping list ...

PaulSC

I really don't like the Sherman Mazurkas. A few of them come off okay but the rhythmic irregularities are often far too exaggerated. And many of his interpretive ideas — dynamics, accentuation, pedaling, and so on — feel arbitrary. A flight of fancy works best (for me) when it takes off from the details in the score.

Sherman's Mazurkas remind me of Andrew Rangell's set on Dorian. I prefer the latter to the former if I'm in the mood for that sort of thing.

[asin]B0000A1HUN[/asin]
Musik ist ein unerschöpfliches Meer. — Joseph Riepel

Brian

As a result of nobody else at MusicWeb liking Chopin (a fact I still have a hard time digesting), I just received a packet of review copies of these:




I have my listening cut out for me! Am actually most excited for the McDermott, which contains seven mazurkas, the berceuse and barcarolle, first ballade, and a smattering of other things. I've never actually owned recordings by McDermott, Dai Asai, or Lang Lang before.

Mandryka

#1243
One of the things I'm trying to do is to piece together all the Joyce Hatto recordings that Barrington-Coupe released. You see, for some composers -- Chopin and Prokofiev especially -- Barrington-Coupe and me have very similar tastes. The Indjic mazurkas is a recent acquisition and it goes to the top of my pile of complete sets, along with Fliers. Indjic finds joy, sadness etc -- a whole range of feelings -- in the music. It's no one size fits all account. I can listen to it for ages and ages.

Another great discovery  through Hatto has been Arthur Moreira Lima's walzes. This is quite simply the best set of Chopin Walzes I have ever heard -- along with Kocsis's

There are other wonderful Chopin things from Hatto -- etudes and preludes for example. But they are more doctored and compiled by Barington Coupe than the Walxes and Mazurkas. Nevertheless they're wonderful accounts, and worth hearing unless you have moral objections.

 
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

mc ukrneal

Quote from: Brian on November 24, 2012, 10:40:51 AM
As a result of nobody else at MusicWeb liking Chopin (a fact I still have a hard time digesting), I just received a packet of review copies of these:




I have my listening cut out for me! Am actually most excited for the McDermott, which contains seven mazurkas, the berceuse and barcarolle, first ballade, and a smattering of other things. I've never actually owned recordings by McDermott, Dai Asai, or Lang Lang before.
How can one not like Chopin?!?! I mean, ok, maybe not everything floats your boat. And maybe there are people who aren't so thrilled with the period and thus Chopin. But no other reviewer who likes Chopin at a classical music review site?!?!?! That is just wrong! :)
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Karl Henning

Quote from: mc ukrneal on December 09, 2012, 07:19:00 AM
How can one not like Chopin?!?! I mean, ok, maybe not everything floats your boat. And maybe there are people who aren't so thrilled with the period and thus Chopin. But no other reviewer who likes Chopin at a classical music review site?!?!?! That is just wrong! :)

+ 1
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

PaulSC

#1246
But liking a composer and wanting to review recordings of that composer's work are two different things. Perhaps reviewers feel they lack critical distance, or perhaps they've heard so much that they find themselves drawn towards novelty more than mastery.
Musik ist ein unerschöpfliches Meer. — Joseph Riepel

Dancing Divertimentian

A very nice second piano concerto from Paik. He's missing the searing luminescence of Zimerman in his first recording (w/ Giulini) but he's in good company there. Not that it's necessary to emulate Zimerman. Especially when you have other tricks up your sleeve: like a rich, woodsy tone, or a deft touch used judiciously to spice up the musical line.

Paik is Paik and there's no denying he's made this concerto his own and it's a pleasure to hear. 






 
Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

Bogey

Two different recordings and I can snag one.  Suggestions please.

On 180 gram vinyl:







On cd:



If all are a wash, I will head here:




There is also this, but not sure what it is:

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/50157/Karl_Bohm-Chopin_Etudes_Op10__25-200_Gram_Vinyl_Record

Thanks!
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Karl Henning

Argerich in Chopin is obligatory IMO, Bill : )
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Coopmv

Quote from: Brian on November 24, 2012, 10:40:51 AM
As a result of nobody else at MusicWeb liking Chopin (a fact I still have a hard time digesting), I just received a packet of review copies of these:



I have my listening cut out for me! Am actually most excited for the McDermott, which contains seven mazurkas, the berceuse and barcarolle, first ballade, and a smattering of other things. I've never actually owned recordings by McDermott, Dai Asai, or Lang Lang before.

I have been considering the CD by McDermott.  Unfortunately, there was no review on Amazon last I checked a week ago.  Can you share your impression after your listen, Brian?

Holden

The Pollini Etudes are very good and less clinical than the DGG recording of 10 years later. A bit more musical IMO. These were recorded a few months after his win in the Chopin competition.

The Argerich Preludes are a bit of a roller coaster ride - #16 is just jaw dropping and I like the way she ends the set with #24.
Cheers

Holden

Karl Henning

But . . . the set traditionally ends with #24.

(Sorry: low-hanging fruit, couldn't resist.)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

George

Classic, karl! ;D

Bill, I say Argerich over Pollini. But I also say Moravec and Sokolov over Argerich.
"It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously." –Oscar Wilde

Holden

My top recommendations are Arrau Live



Bolet Live in Carnegie Hall, also available on anold GPOTTC if you can find one



and Fiorentino which does not appear to be on CD any more.
Cheers

Holden

Brian

Quote from: Coopmv on January 05, 2013, 05:14:47 PM
I have been considering the CD by McDermott.  Unfortunately, there was no review on Amazon last I checked a week ago.  Can you share your impression after your listen, Brian?

Surprisingly aggressive Chopin playing, bold, even daredevilish. A few mazurkas are simply overplayed, and the first chord of the barcarolle will blow out your speakers (yes, I said the barcarolle!), but on the balance I enjoyed the unusual approach. Certainly not cookie-cutter. I think Yevgeny Sudbin can adopt similar tempos without getting as loud and clangy.

So basically, if you like McDermott's Prokofiev, you might like her Chopin - but they're more similar than you'd expect.

Brian

Only about 7 hours left in the BLIND LISTENING GAME before I reveal the name of one of the five pianists! You will be able to submit critiques on the five selected recordings of the Etude Op 25 No 1 through the remainder of the weekend, and I strongly encourage you to do so.

:)

Coopmv

Quote from: Brian on January 10, 2013, 07:00:21 PM
Surprisingly aggressive Chopin playing, bold, even daredevilish. A few mazurkas are simply overplayed, and the first chord of the barcarolle will blow out your speakers (yes, I said the barcarolle!), but on the balance I enjoyed the unusual approach. Certainly not cookie-cutter. I think Yevgeny Sudbin can adopt similar tempos without getting as loud and clangy.

So basically, if you like McDermott's Prokofiev, you might like her Chopin - but they're more similar than you'd expect.

Thanks for the summary, Brian.  I do not have McDermott's Prokofiev but I like her Bach.  I already have many Chopin recordings but was wondering if there are any current generation pianists whose recordings are worth adding to my Chopin collection ...

Lisztianwagner

About Chopin's etudes,  I really wonder why Artur Rubinstein, one of the finest interpreters of that music (if not the finest one), never recorded the complete set.....
"You cannot expect the Form before the Idea, for they will come into being together." - Arnold Schönberg

Coopmv

Quote from: Lisztianwagner on January 12, 2013, 03:28:16 PM
About Chopin's etudes,  I really wonder why Artur Rubinstein, one of the finest interpreters of that music (if not the finest one), never recorded the complete set.....

I have owned the following set for a number of years and thought it is pretty comprehensive ...     :o