Chopin: 4 Scherzi/Berceuse/Barcarolle

Frederic Chopin (Composer), Maurizio Pollini (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Maurizio Pollini
• Composer: Frederic Chopin
• Audio CD (February 11, 1992)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GEJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,271 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars powerful, poetic and everything in between, October 21, 2001

By 

Itamar Ronen (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chopin: 4 Scherzi/Berceuse/Barcarolle (Audio CD)

There's an urban legend about Pollini, surely created by people who never heard him play, that he's "cold", "mechanical" etc. Nothing can be more wrong. Pollini is a pianist that his utmost concern is to convey what the composer had in mind as faithfully as possible, and he's humble enough and capable enough to do so as much as it is humanly possible. The articulation and phrasing are subtle, in many cases, but they are there, and very much so. One doesn't have to be a professional musician to realize how much joy and deep understanding of the music there is in his recordings, right from the very early ones. e.g. the Chopin 1st piano concerto that he recorded at the age of 18 (!), right after winning first prize at the Chopin competition in Warsaw (to my humble opinion - the best recording of this work). The works on this CD present a wide range of Chopin's compositional style - from the wonderfully energetic and direct first scherzo, to the elusive and almost impressionistic fourth scherzo, the beautiful berceuse, which unfolds a theme with variations that feels like a chinese landscape scroll and the monumental barcarolle. Pollini has the acuity of mind/ear/hands to match his interpretation to each and every one of the pieces. On a personal level of preference - the second scherzo gets a better treatment, I believe, from Pollini's compatriot, the late Benedetti-Michelangeli, but Pollini's performance is still a great one, and the rest of the CD is simply perfect.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, impeccable piano playing of the highest order, May 9, 2009

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chopin: 4 Scherzi/Berceuse/Barcarolle (Audio CD)

This CD dates from 1990, and I'm sure that Amazon must have swallowed up my original review (no worries, I have a few to spare). Although acknowledged for forty years as one of the world's most eminent Chopin interpreters, Pollini outdoes himself here. He plays the four Scherzi with passion and power while maintaining his impeccable precision. Among the recordings I know, only Pogorelich, with his extreme volatility, is more immediately engrossing. As for the stale cliche that Pollini's playing is cold, I think the Gramophone's reviewer states the truth very elegantly: "Pollini never for a moment allows us to forget Chopin's own profound respect for classical discipline--or should I say aristocratic poise?"

It irritates me when reviewers warp the facts to suit their private prejudices. The three-star reviewer says that DG's sound is boxy and harsh when in fact the ambience is quite normal and the miking no more close than for most pianists. However, it's true that DG tended to give Pollini rather glassy and hard-edged sonics. Those qualities can be heard on this CD when the pianist plays at forte or louder.

In any event, this account of the four Scherzi stands as a modern classic, and I haven't heard it surpassed in the twenty years since it was made.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant pianist, matchless music, June 19, 2008

By 

Alan A. Elsner "Alan Elsner, author" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chopin: 4 Scherzi/Berceuse/Barcarolle (Audio CD)

In my humble opinion, no living pianist plays Chopin better than Pollini. he is muscular, sensitive, his technique is impeccable and he sees the very heart of this wonderful music. Highly highly recommended.