The Chopin Ballades & Scherzos [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Frederic Chopin (Composer), Artur Rubinstein (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Artur Rubinstein
• Composer: Frederic Chopin
• Audio CD (September 14, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B0002TKFS6
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,918 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Scherzo
  • #5 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Ballads
  • #59 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > General Modern

Track Listings

1. No. 1, Op. 23 in G Minor

2. No. 2, Op. 38 in F

3. No. 3, Op. 47 in A-Flat

4. No. 4, Op. 52 in F Minor

5. No. 1, Op. 20 in B Minor

6. No. 2, Op. 31 in B-Flat Minor

7. No. 3, Op. 39 in C-Sharp Minor

8. No. 4, Op. 54 in E

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Good As It Gets, March 23, 2006

By 

Hank Drake (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Chopin Ballades & Scherzos [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Rubinstein was in his prime when these versions of the Chopin Ballades and Scherzos were recorded in 1959. Curiously, although this was his third version of the Scherzos, he had never before recorded the Ballades.

Rubinstein was temperamentally well suited to these works, moreso than in the Mazurkas and Preludes. The narrative aspect of the Ballades suited his intuitive sense of structure well. At this point in his career, Rubinstein had known these pieces for six decades. It is no wonder, therefore, that he performs them more convincingly than, say, Kissin does on his recent recording.

The Scherzos are outright virtuoso works. Rubinstein would occasionally perform all four in concert, back-to-back. Any other pianist would have been exhasted by the effort. Not Rubinstein, who posessed a seemingly inexaustable reserve of energy. The pianist is just as on top of these pieces, technically, as any of his colleagues, and much more attuned to them musically.

The sound, made from original three channel tapes produced by RCA's legendary Jack Pfeiffer, is spectacular in this new SACD edition--sounding every bit as lifelike as the best of today's digital recordings.

This is the one to get!

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great performances and sound, November 27, 2004

By 

M. DEBELLIS "debell76" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chopin Ballades & Scherzos [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Highly recommended. Rubinstein's performances of the Ballades are lyrical, and the Scherzos exciting. The difference with previous issues is the SACD sound, which adds just that much more realism, the sense that the sound is "truer." A wonderful disc both artistically and sonically.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars generous artistic presence, March 4, 2009

By 

Classics Man (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chopin Ballades & Scherzos [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Rubinstein's respect for the score, controlled freedom, and unerring sense of proportion prove how sanity and inspiration are not mutually exclusive interpretive properties. A few examples will suffice. For instance, when the pianist lingers over the First Ballade's E-flat major subject, he still provides a strong rhythmic backbone in the left-hand accompaniment to anchor it. Many pianists blur the Second Scherzo's famous opening triplets; instead Rubinstein articulates them without compromising their spookiness.While the aforementioned Rubinstein Edition CD appears to be mastered at a higher level, with slightly more emphasis in the bass, the SACD's overall ambience wins the day, even when reproduced on a conventional two-channel CD player.