Chopin: Piano Music

Advantages: A discovery unforgettable
Disadvantages: Nothing

...(Rewrite on 09/07/2001) Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (great italian "virtuoso") spent his life to search a kind of perfection during interpretations. He knew this perfection to be impossible but, for him, "perfection" was union between composer and player. Then,this perfection isn't impossible... Glenn Gould tryed the same sound by his pianos: in this way he was very careful to music structure: beauty of musical phrases, to give a geometrical "presence" to music a.s.o. Of course his Bach interpretations (but Beethoven and Mozart also), even if on a piano and not on a harpsichord or "fortepiano" , are excellent. Michelangeli is on the other side of the moon... His Chopin is mysterious, full of shadows and, in some compositions, unknowable. But, how does Michelangeli obtain this wonderful result? To answer it is simple and very... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: beautiful piano pieces.
Disadvantages: are you kidding...none!

...I play the piano freqeuntly. As a result i come across many composers. Of them all, chopin is my favourite. With his singing melodie, and wonderous chromatic passages he is easily the greatest composer, poetically. Chopin's nocturnes are among the most popular of his works, and this style is most famous for Chopin, even thought it was originally created by an Irish compose named John Field. The 3 nocturnes that make up Op.9 were written in 1830-1831 and were published in 1832, the year Chopin became succesful. These 3 pieces were dedicated to Camile Moke Pleyel, a very tallented pianist and wife of one of France's most famous piano manufactures. Op.9 No.1 is currently the most performed of all his nocturnes. Op.15 was written at about the same time as Op.9 except for Op.15 No.3. This was written in 1833. This Opus was dedicated... Read review

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Advantages: Not offensive and well-played
Disadvantages: Lacking musical value

...I’m a sucker for piano concertos, especially romantic ones, and I tried really hard with this one but no matter how many times I’ve listened to it I always reach the same conclusion – this is utter tosh. Vacuous does not come into it, and the orchestration is obviously a homage to Chopin’s by making sure that it is even less effective. It seems a bit pointless to comment on the performance and recording but at least I can report that they are up to Naxos' usual high standard - it's just rather a waste as the material isn't. Almost worthy of a compulsory purchase notice as a service to musical education - how not to do it!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average off topic