Customer Reviews

The Chopin I Love

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This disc is extraordinary. I am allowing myself to get more and more excited about what is turning out to be a brilliant career. When Thibaudet emerged on the scene several years ago with his performances of French music (Ravel, Debussy), one had to ask himself if Thibaudet would turn out to be a flash in the pan. Sure, the French music was nice, but what else could he do? But then Thibaudet, much to my pleasure, has confirmed his legitimacy with several discs which span a wide variety of repetoire. And then this absolutely sparkling disc of Chopin emerges...

The selection matters only a whit (okay, there are a few requisite "hits"); rather, the wondrous thing is how his charm & personality radiate throughout the disc. It is this ebullient glow which separates this disc from the competition.

As far as I'm concerned, Thibaudet has established himself as one of the premier pianists of our age. I put him in a catagory with the likes of Mitsuko Uchida and Andras Schiff, far above the madding crowd of prima donnas and prodigies.

Purchasing this disc should be a no-brainer.

At first I was suprised to see that Thibaudet released a Chopin recital.But since I loved his liszt and Debussy recordings I bought it - it was "love at first sight".

He is very strong in the Preludes,Nocturnes and the Waltzs.

The pieces that are played on the old piano sound amazing - a nice touch.

The recording is warm and not to close - the piano sounds vivid and full.

I hope this is just a small taste of Chopin's piano works from Thibaudet and that he is planning to release more (the complete Preludes would be nice).

This all-Chopin studio recital offers first-class playing by a performer I am rapidly learning to admire, and I would recommend it to beginning listeners as much as to lifelong music lovers. The father of one of my students was a professor at the Eastman School of Music and some years back he wrote a book about French music which included Chopin. His premise was simple enough: Chopin's father was French and Chopin spent almost his adult life living and performing in France, composing "French-style" salon music, so it is French music. I confess that, until my discussions with this man, I never thought of Chopin as French. The polonaise, the mazurka, etc. were Polish, weren't they? But then, listen to the delicacy of the music. Is the music really the embodiment of Polish dances and folk songs, or is it something else, very different? Sense the truth: it's French music on the most sophisticated level imaginable. Then understand why I find this pianist, already known for his interpretations of other fine French music, so perfectly suited to live inside of the music of the greatest master of the piano. Jean-Yves Thibaudet has a prodigious technique which effortlessly executes the most difficult passages in the Revolutionary etude, the Scherzo number 2, the wonderful first Ballade, and the other etudes, but in the most delicate, sentimental sections of the noctures presented here, or in the whimsical, melodious mazurkas, or the noble Grande valse brillante in E flat major, he performs with sensitivity and care equal in importance in this music. I personally favor collections of Chopin which offer a complete set of the etudes, the preludes, the mazurkas, or whatever, and hope that sometime soon Mr. Thibaudet will issue sets of this kind, as he is definitely a performer who has something to say in this area. With the new complete Chopin edition from Deutsche Grammophon, the historic and compulsory offerings of almost all of Chopin's piano works by the "official spokesman" of the composer, Artur Rubinstein, and the various other fine sets of Chopin pieces from just about every pianist to listen to, it might seem that one more Chopin collection is unnecessary, but I believe there is much to be enjoyed from this pianist's personal insights into the music. Chopin himself admitted that he never played any of his pieces the same way twice, and if one listens to Vladimir Horowitz's rendition of the Mazurka Op. 17, No. 4, beside Rubinstein's, I am convinced you see what I mean. Thibudet's "Raindrop" prelude was especially memorable on this disc, and I loved hearing the four pieces played on one of Chopin's own pianos! As was to be expected, the antique piano struggled a little with sound generation, but the pieces sounded surprisingly good, and I almost think I liked them better than the sound available on the modern pianofortes: there was a quaint, warm, old-fashioned sound to the early instrument. Shutting my eyes, I imagined Chopin sitting at this piano, surrounded by loving friends and admirers in a cosy room in a villa in Paris, listening quietly as their frail romantic hero opened his soul to them through this incredible music. It is said that Chopin favored upright pianos over grands, and that he was inclined to avoid technical brilliance in favor of lyrical sound quality, but his music is not effeminate. Just listen to the strength and nobility in the more robust pieces on this disc for proof. Jean-Yves Thibaudet, or his producer, have chosen a rich selection of pieces which offer the very best mixture of essences of Chopin's musical outpouring. If there are any reservations about the disc, it might be the inclusion of the "heroic" polonaise, which, though a great work, is too-often included in these kinds of recitals, and perhaps also, the "minute" waltz. For the collector who is searching for a first recording of Chopin, however, this would present no problem, and the rest of us will still enjoy the performances of these two works. For me, though, the highlight of the disc was the 17th track which featured, from the Etudes, Opus 25, number 3 in F major, played on Chopin's own piano. Just to own the four tracks recorded on Chopin's piano is reason enough to buy the disc!

I hesitated to buy this disc. Handsome guy on the cover, syrupy title ("The Chopin I Love" - ugh!), four of the tracks are on a piano which Chopin actually played (gimmick alert!). But then I listened to it at the demo station and liked the selections quite a lot. So I bought it and now it seems to have found a permanent home in my car's CD player. I haven't listened to anything else in a week. And the "Raindrop" prelude actually sounds wonderful on the old piano. The Grand Valse brillante (opus 18) is a favorite of the whole family with it's "laughing piano" sounds. Wonderfully played. The only thing I would change is to substitute Ballade #4 for the #1 on the disc, but that's only a personal preference.

Thibaudet is rapidly becoming my favorite in the crop of current 'star' pianists. His recordings of Ravel and Debussy and Liszt are tops in the field and now this CD of Chopin piano solo music has been released and it is just as fine. This sampling of Etudes, Mazurkas and Nocturnes, etc. are all played so perfectly: this is heart-aching Romanticism at its peak. Decca has also been generous: the recording is actually more than 78 minutes long. The 4 bonus tracks played on Chopin's own piano prove to be more than just a clever gimmick. It is really interesting for an amateur like myself to compare the composer's piano with the pianist's. Thibaudet is quoted in the fine essay that comes along with the CD: "...the beautiful thing is that his (Chopin's) spirit is alive and in his music." Yes...especially in this lovely album. Very Highly Recommended.

The great keyboard virtuoso Jean-Yves Thibaudet recorded this CD - entitled "The Chopin I love" - in 1999, as an affectionate tribute to the great Polish composer whose 150th death commemoration took place all over the world along that very year.

The chosen works are indeed among the most loved in the Chopin catalogue and they are played here with such a directness and empathy by Thibaudet that the listener is simply enraptured. The crystal-clear touch with its fresh simplicity amazes, while the technique employed seems other-worldly: precise, expressive, right weighed in speed and color. The pedal is not abused, hence a precious purity of sound. The melodic flow graciously sings with a remarkable capacity of evoking.

Stunning performance! Just listen the Polonaise "Heroique", the Scherzo in B flat minor, the "Revolutionary" Etude or the "Minute Waltz" and be astounded by the refined virtuosity Thibaudet displays. Or enter the Chopinesque melancholy in the three chosen Nocturnes and experience a soaring trance for which Thibaudet conjures up all his musical inspiration. For certain pieces (especially Preludes) he switches from the Grand Steinway to the original Broadwood (the piano played by Chopin himself on his English 1948 tour), but while the "Raindrop" Prelude could be well served by this choice, the wonderful posthumous Nocturne in C sharp minor - in my opinion - seems to take no advantage.

Since this year we celebrate the Chopin's 200th birth anniversary, I do recommend this CD as a lovely memento not to be missed. For it contains not only the Chopin Thibaudet loves, but the Chopin we all love! Bravo, Jean-Yves!

It is one of the unfortunate limitations of this venue that reviews for any given item seem to presuppose a general audience, and it's not possible for reader or reviewer to state his or her frame(s) of reference. A CD review by a musician is not necessarily *better* than one by a non-musician, but it is likely to be relevant for different listeners. But even among musicians it's obvious that one musician will not necessarily agree with another just because they are both musicians.

Reviewing classical music is further complicated for the fact that the kind of review one might read in something like Grammophone is usually only useful for those already somehow initiated into the esoteric vocabulary and culture of the classical music industry (i.e., people for whom abbreviations like LSO and DG mean something or names like Kapustin and Takemitsu are as integral to the parlance as Beethoven and Bach). On the other hand, the kind of review that likes to use words and phrases like "awe-inspiring!" or "emotionally charged!" or "beautiful!" tend to be useful only to those whose ability to listen to music begins by pressing the 'play' button on a CD player.

On the one hand, Thibaudet is judicious in keeping a tight rein on the ever-present temptation in Chopin to pass into the kind of vulgar sentimentality that permits people to enjoy the pieces as wonderful elevator music and find him "just beautiful!"

Given Thibaudet's excellent showings in the French literature and the Rachmaninoff concerti, there was no question that his technial mastery was up to the challenge of playing the pieces on this disc in one respect.

In another, Chopin is like Mozart in the sense that many of his pieces are not technically difficult. The waltzes and nocturnes, for example, can be played reasonably well by reasonably talented young teenagers, just as a gifted pianist might play Mozart sonatas at ten.

This does not mean, however, that a ten-year-old will play a Mozart sonata well, even if the student's technical mastery is up to the task (or, for that matter, that certain young Chinese pianists who shall remain nameless with excellent technique have the maturity or intellect to play pieces well). Both Chopin and Mozart are deceptive in their simplicity and it is for this reason that so many interpretations abound.

Thibaudet is faithful to the standard Chopin tradition, so no innovations are to be found on this disc. While this per se is not a fault, Thibaudet's decision to remain loyal to that tradition then forces him to be responsible to the exemplars of that tradition, and the question becomes whether or not he is worthy to be its heir.

The recording of the famous A-flat polonaise is sloppy such that the sound is hollow in some places and muddy in others. Some seem to like Thibaudet's phrasing here, but in my opinion he tends to be dismissive and instead of the familiar majesty we get from someone like Horowitz or Lhevinne, we get something that feels artificially restrained.

The D-flat waltz ('Minute') is competent, but has nothing of the excitement of various and countless others or the astonishment of Hofmann's legendary playing of this piece (at tempo, no less) in thirds.

The E-flat waltz is played nicely, though the piece itself is rather facile. Similarly, the E-minor prelude is basically a student piece.

The B-flat scherzo lacks the impetuousness it deserves in the middle section (either that, or Thibaudet's score lacks the marking 'con fuoco'), and Thibaudet's Steinway is tinny in the upper registers and incapable of satisfying the dynamics in the score. (Even the young but surprisingly mature pianist Yundi Li has a better recording of this piece.)

The famous C-minor etude was unexciting and lacked the nuance of someone like Cortot; the D-minor etude was nicely played, however.

Instead of going on, I hope I've at least given some sense of my reasons for this rating. Unfortunately, another limitation of reviewing CDs with words is the fact that words fail at describing the experience of hearing music. I have tried, instead, to provide a basis for comparison for those who are interested. At the very least, the glut of recordings and performances of Chopin--most of which tend to be amateurish and mediocre--in itself provides reason to be judicious and even stringent in our evaluations. It is one thing to acknowledge the greatness of Chopin's music. It is another to dish out vapid praise just because it's Chopin. Even Chopin wrote some fairly insipid music, some of which is on this disc (which feels more like one of those "best of..." compilations that milk sentimentality out of piano music instead of having something interesting to say about Chopin). This rating is not an insult to Thibaudet's musicianship. In fact, it is out of respect for it that one must expect more from this disc than was given. Even if the playing was a bit heavy, at least Pletnev's Carnegie Hall debut took some chances to reveal some interesting things that no one had heard before in the scherzi. I fail to see that Thibaudet has anything interesting to say about Chopin (especially if the majority of the works on this disc are not particularly interesting in themselves). Chopin is such a familiar name that the criteria for evaluating his music have to be more than the fact that he's emotionally "moving" or "touching".

Finally, don't be fooled by the advertisement that there are tracks played "on Chopin's own piano". Read the cover carefully: "for the bonus tracks, [Thibaudet] plays the Broadwood piano that Chopin chose for his 1848 concerts in England". (Incidentally, two of the pieces chosen for these tracks--the F-major etude and D-minor prelude were interesting and well-chosen selections.)

I was first taken with Thibaudet's mastery of the piano when I heard the score for "Pride & Prejudice", written by Dario Marianelli. Now I'm looking up Thibaudet's recordings of other music, and I decided to start here, since Chopin has always been one of my absolute favorites.

I'm very picky about my Chopin recordings; I can't stand listening to recordings of Chopin that are played technically well but without feeling and expression. However, Thibaudet manages to put great feeling into the pieces without distorting their technical rhythm and their original intent.

It was also an extremely nice touch that recordings were made on the Broadwood piano that Chopin himself played. My only complaint (from the standpoint of one who works as a piano technician / restoration specialist / tuner) is that the poor old Broadwood is in desperate need of technical attention. It sounded quite flat and significantly out of tune, although it is possible that its age prevents greater results without a full restoration.

The only piece that I felt was missing from the disc was "Fantasie-Impromptu," which I am currently looking for in a Thibaudet recording.

However, this disc is an absolute marvel, and Thibaudet's playing is second-to-none. This disc is an absolute must-have.

I was introduced to Jean-Yves Thibaudet on "The Record Shelf", a radio program that was highlighting his discography. Over the course of the program I realized what a great pianist he was and what wonderful recordings he has made. When this album came out, I didn't hesitate at buying it. Chopin & Thibaudet---how could one go wrong? One can't. I don't know what it is about Decca, but they certainly know how to do the recording aspect incredibly. And we all know Chopin's piano music is great. The only thing that has to happen is a great pianist playing the music. That's where Thibaudet comes in and shows the world that he is a pianist of pianists. He shows us the intricacies and delicacies of Chopin's music. An added bonus are the last 4 tracks played on the very piano that Chopin himself played on. What a treat to hear the same sound that Chopin himself heard as he played.

Wow! surely the best 1 CD compilation of Chopin's music. Here familiar works are presented as if they were discovered yesterday. Such a freshness !!!! tempi, phrasing, articulation, are outstanding! Lucid, vivid, not grandiloquent or mannered. For instance take the eroic polonaise! At first not a great thing, seems weak but then remember polonaise was not a warrior dance but instead a stately, full of dignity. And that is what you hear! Listen to how the piece is growing with captivating power. I could go on citing examples of the mastery Thibaudet brings to all pieces. And then ... as if this were not enough ... change instrument!!! he chose for the last tracks a period piano, Chopin's piano! Simply wonderfull! And then ... wow! 2 of that pieces are also played previously on a modern Steinway, so you have here a little "comparative discography". Discover the different approaches to same music with different instruments!
With a hand in your heart tell me: what else can you ask for in 78 min of music??? This CD is a must