Chopin: The Complete Études

Frederic Chopin (Composer), Louis Lortie (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Louis Lortie
• Composer: Frederic Chopin
• Audio CD (October 28, 1992)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B000000AEX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,170 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #76 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Romantic (c.1820-1910) > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of the Few Greatest Etude Recordings of All Time, September 30, 2004

By 

J. Langston (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chopin: The Complete Études (Audio CD)

Who says "caveat emptor" and then writes a review on how Lortie's playing is dull? First of all, drop the pseudo-sophistication, it's not worth the effort. Second, Chopin's etudes are some of the most technically demanding pieces ever written. To call any complete recorded performance of them "dull" is rather pretentious, don't you think?

Then you go on to quote a musicologist! Are you kidding me? Is your own mind so vapid that you are driven to cling to the thoughts of a supposedly educated "musicologist"?? Please. Go do song reviews for MTV.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, we can move on. Lortie's interpretation and performance of the Etudes is unbelievable. He completely dominates the technicalities with such smooth phrasing that he makes it sound easy. He is beyond demonstrating his virtuosity; his interpretation is simultaneously fluid and dynamic. He loses his supernatural edge on just a few in Opus 25, but is still far above the rest.

I have heard the recordings of Cortot, Browning, Szekely, Horowitz, Perahia, Pollini, Chiu, Zayas, Arrau, Ohlsson, Wild, Ashkenazy and Lugansky. There are others out there, but this tells you what I have heard and what I am basing my judgement on. Ashkenazy and Lugansky also play the etudes on that supernatural level, but I cannot say that for the rest. To call any recording dull? Impossible. Every one is an amazing feat of pianistic skill. Some just rise above the rest..

To overlook this recording would be a great loss. I hope Amazon gets more in stock!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Etude, Brute?, May 30, 2005

By 

Johannes Marlena (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: The Complete Études (Audio CD)

If ever there was an underrated recording, this is it. Perhaps because it has had to live under the shadow of Pollini's revered traversal of this masterwork, which also appeared in 1975. For those that require interpretations of Chopin to be ego-less yet fascinating, dazzling, thrilling and unburdened by self-imposed intellect - Louis Lortie the Canadian is for you, as it is for me the first choice. Throughout, Lortie's mastery of the instrument and humble, understated ability to communicate the essence of each of these short pieces with appropriate and varying elegance, grace, emotion, introspection, drama and tension impresses more and more in repeated listenings. As for the music itself, is it fair to call this Chopin's Goldberg Variations? Like Bach's "exercises," Chopin profoundly explores and stretches the piano's expressive ability to its furthest extremes, both through musical architecture and in the instrument's physical capabilities (in this aspect, even more so than Bach). Is there a set of short pieces more perfect and beautiful as the Opus 10? I don't think so. No. 1 here is an awesome statement of purpose - those arpeggios seem effortless and incredibly musical (instead of an opportunity to show off) and we get Romanticism in human terms, not opera, as such is Lortie's way. Other highlights of the Op. 10 set of twelve are the famous No. 3, in which Lortie lets the music speak for itself; ghostly, emotional No. 6; lovely No. 8 which seems to capture all the joy of life; No. 11 which strikes me as the most Polish in its wistful character; and No. 12, which sounds downright Tchaikovsky. The highlight in the twelve Op. 25 is the amazing run of Nos. 6-12 - kind of like Side Two (or what used to be known as) of The Beatles' Abbey Road. In other words, prepared to be repeatedly awed. Here Chopin presents his most difficult music to play, pushes piano effects and tonal complexity to the max, gives a nod to his idol Bach, searches deep inside like the best of Schubert and dazzles like good Liszt - and Lortie is completely up to the challenge. No. 8 is my favorite - so compact yet expressing worlds like a beautiful haiku poem. Go find a copy of this disc. You're missing out!*****

Other references: High recommendation from Gramophone, Penguin Guide, Classical Music: Third Ear

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal!, January 7, 2001

By 

Lee Hartsfeld (Central Ohio, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chopin: The Complete Études (Audio CD)

Chopin's "Etudes" are the greatest works written for the piano, and Louis Lortie performs them with extraordinary skill and power. He is the ultimate interpreter of Chopin, a pianist of unmatched technique and sensitivity. His monumental reading of the eleventh and twelfth etudes in Op. 12 are worth the price of the CD many times over. Unblurred pedaling, rapid but flawlessly clean octave runs, and pure legato playing of impossible-to-connect arpeggios are only a few of the many aural joys awaiting the listener. Virtually a fiber-optic connection to the musical mind of Chopin. Buy this one!