Customer Reviews

Chopin: The Complete Études

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4 star:		(1)
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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!

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

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!

Lortie's playing is very commanding throughout the disc, yet he handles the Etudes with care, gently caressing the melodies. My only complaint is that the recording sounds rather close and tinny at times.

I heard Louis Lortie play the Chopin Etudes at the Kennedy Centre in Washington last year, and was impressed by his absolute command of the techniques necessary to do justice to the music. His performance was confident and sensitive, the best I had ever heard. I bought the CD for my husband at his request, and he is supremely happy with it. He says it recaptures the live performance very well. Most highly recommended.

I lost my copy years ago to my teenagers' CD shuffles in the player, and was left with just the covercase. I miss the magical interpretation of Lortie even though I have many other recordings of the Etudes. I am so happy to be able to replace this CD in my collection.

"Doctor, doctor, you have to help me!"

"What's wrong?"

"Well, my pulse is racing and I'm all excited."

"Why? What have you been doing?"

"Well, I was listening to Murray Perahia."

"Really?"

"In Chopin's Etudes."

"You have? And this quickened your pulse?"

"Yes."

"*Quickened?*"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously!"

"Wow. Well, let's see, you might want to try this--"

"Hmmm...The Etudes as played by Louis Lortie?"

"Yup. Guaranteed to slow that pulse right back down."

"I see."

"Immediately. Just don't listen to it while operating heavy machinery."

"Okay."

"And don't listen to it too often unless you have a trained medical professional there to revive you. Incidentally, if this is the kind of stuff that's quickening your pulse, for heaven's sake, stay away from Richter, Cortot, Wirssaladze, Gavrilov, or Yokoyama. You could hurt yourself."

"Thank you doctor! So my heart is safe now? My pulse won't quicken? My blood pressure won't rise even though this is very passionate music?"

"Guaranteed."

In the summer 1999 issue of the British publication International Piano Quarterly, a collector's guide to the all-time greatest recordings of the 24 Chopin Etudes was published. Topping the list was the epochal 1983 recording (Music & Arts CD891) of Cuban-born pianist Juana Zayas. Lortie's account did not fare so well. Listing it under the "Controversial and the Bland" variety, musicologist Donald Manildi writes that "Louis Lortie is yet another advocate whose good manners and utter sobriety offer little to quicken the pulse. Repeated hearings of his version only reinforce the general impression of neutrality, and his dull, unimaginative treatment of Op. 10 Nos. 3 and 6 (for instance) will win no prizes here." Zayas, on the other hand, "lavishes on all 24 pieces a quite fabulous amalgam of lyricism, wit, drama, and sheer pianistic craft, full of subtle and imaginative detail, lustrous tone and impeccable technique. Moreover, she conveys a warm-hearted exuberance as she sweeps the set, setting forth one Etude after another in ideal fashion, never allowing interest to sag. This is piano playing and, more importantly, Chopin playing on the highest level. The verdict: Zayas is a compelling first choice. . ." On the basis of this comparison, the choice is obvious. I can only confirm what Manildi has written. Repeated hearings of her CD, far from reinforcing an impression of neutrality, serve rather to unveil the details that were missed in the earlier hearings. For most people, it would probably take at least ten or fifteen hearings to appreciate all the subtleties therein. In fact, Zayas's level of artistry is so far superior to Lortie's (to say nothing of many others) that I wonder whether he decided to record these pieces as soon as he acquired a technical mastery of them. Zayas, on the other hand, studied and polished these pieces for at least seven years before recording them. In any case, the difference is palpable.