Customer Reviews

Chopin: Greatest Hits

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I think of the piano, the first composer that comes to my mind is Chopin. Chopin was a composer who excelled in small form writing for the piano. He wrote beautiful melodies with complex accompaniment that was both challenging for the performer and enlightening for the listener. Chopin did not write many multi-movement pieces and what he did write is generally not as good as his solo piano pieces anyway (this is my opinion, not a fact).
When buying recordings of Chopin's music, there are basically two options. You can either go with a "Greatest Hits" type collection, which works very well with Chopin, or you can buy collections that assemble all he wrote for a certain form (preludes, nocturnes, etudes, etc...). If you are new to Chopin, I suggest buying a "Greatest Hits" collection, though not necessarily this one, even though this is the CD in my car right now. The playing is okay but it's nothing really that special. Considering all the masterful Chopin interpreters out there, such as Rubinstein, Ashkenazy, Argerich, Pollini, and Perahia, it seems silly not to start with a pianist that you really love, since almost every great pianist has recorded works by Chopin. Having said that, this collection contains almost all my favorite works by Chopin, my only complaint being I wish it had more than one nocturne. Thus it serves as a good introduction to Chopin's music. I would recommend the Favorite Chopin collection by Ashkenazy over this collection because not only is he an amazing pianist and a masterful interpreter of Chopin, but it's two discs for the price of one.

Not a good version of Les Sylphides (#17); which is only a 5 minute excerpt. Any other Les Sylphides pieces are sprinkled throughout the CD as piano.

Revolutionary Etude and many other performers are good. However, Fanastie Impromptu I've heard performed much better. Raindrop Prelude is played okay, but the song is so low in volume that I can hardly hear it. Good deal though.

A great CD to listen to and relax or even have it playing in the background when guests are over. This CD has many of Chopin's best pieces and many more. I defiantly recommend this for a Chopin fan. Never heard of him? Look him out if you enjoy wonderful quiet piano. It's a great buy

If you love Chopin you will love this CD. I played Chopin music as a child and had an old 78
record of Chopin music but of course times change and for some reason I never bought a
CD of Chopin music until I saw this one. It is very wonderful and has all the songs I love best.

While I enjoyed listening to this CD and certainly feel glad I purchased it, I found some of the performances lacking the magic of Chopin that I've come to expect.

What can I say! This is a wonderful collection of music. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves his music.

Chopin is okay, but his pian music doens't appeal to me that much. I prefer Mozart's piano music. Chopin's wasn't mood suiting because to me most it is flat.

Frederic Chopin is a very talented artist and composer. A must have of any Chopin collector.