Chopin Collection

Rubinstein (Artist), Chopin (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003EQI
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,423 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ballade for piano No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, CT. 2

2. Ballade for piano No. 2 in F major, Op. 38, CT. 3

3. Ballade for piano No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47, CT. 4

4. Ballade for piano No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, CT. 5

5. Scherzo for piano No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20, CT. 197

6. Scherzo for piano No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31, CT. 198

7. Scherzo for piano No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39, CT. 199

8. Scherzo for piano No. 4 in E major, Op. 54, CT. 200

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rubinstein: "Live" in studio, June 6, 1999

By 

Alex Serrano (Perrysburg, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin Collection (Audio CD)

Ever since reviwes have been made on Rubinstein he has been accused of "tighting up" a little too much in a studio. Even though there is some truth in this comment when you compare his live performances of Beethoven against his studio recordings, in Chopin and in this album this thought simply does not hold on. Here you get passionate Rubinstein in warm, articulate, logical performances of Chopin at his boldest. Please, listen carefully to the details in the Ballade No.4. It just keeps on building climax after climax, and the conclusion seems inexorable. And yet this is always Rubinstein letting music do all the talking.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A testament to Rubinstein's greatness, and Chopin's, September 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Chopin Collection (Audio CD)

If anyone needed to make a case for Rubinstein's genius not only as a Chopin interpreter, but as a pianist of the first rank, they'd need do little more than offer this one recording as evidence. The control of melodic line, lift, chordal technique, brilliance in ornamentation and fioriture - all of them are at the service of Chopin's conception, but come together with a sound that can only have been made by Rubinstein. Perhaps most moving is the first ballade; the grandeur of the main E major theme has never been brought out so compellingly, and the closing Gm section is nothing short of demonic. I've listened to this recording well over a thousand times, and have explored every other commercially-available recording of the ballades. Nothing quite compares. If I had only one piano record, perhaps even only one record of any kind, to choose for the proverbial desert island, this one would be it.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate Chopin., June 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chopin Collection (Audio CD)

I'm not short of versions of the ballads and the scherzos so I have compared the Rubinstein's to many other (Ashkenazy, Pollini, Rachmaninov, Argerich, Janis, Kissin etc.). For the ballads I put Rubinstein and Ashkenazy in a special place. Ashkenazy has a better sound (thick and deep bass sound which is familiar in his recordings) and his playing he is exstremely powerfull. Rubinstein's sound is a bit flat but has no hiss or that kind of stuff. The playing is clean, every note is heard and the fantasy-feeling gets perfectly through. For the scherzos I put Rubinstein in the first place. In the 2nd I also like Argerich's powerfull approach and Kissin's playing in this schrezo is also superb. But for me no one gets the 3rd better than Rubinstein. Just listen to the "raindrops" in the right hand! I like the 4th very mush but find the Ashkenasy best. So after all I think that this must be the recording if you are looking for the ballads and the schrezos on one recording.