Chopin: Nocturnes

Frederic Chopin (Composer), Ivan Moravec (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Ivan Moravec
• Composer: Frederic Chopin
• Audio CD (June 25, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000005J03
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,848 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Nocturnes (3) for piano, Op. 9, CT. 108-110: Nocturne in B flat minor for piano, Op. 9/1

2. Nocturnes (3) for piano, Op. 9, CT. 108-110: Nocturne in E flat major for piano, Op. 9/2

3. Nocturnes (3) for piano, Op. 9, CT. 108-110: Nocturne in B major for piano, Op. 9/3

4. Nocturnes (3) for piano, Op. 15, CT. 111-113: Nocturne in F major for piano, Op. 15/1

5. Nocturnes (3) for piano, Op. 15, CT. 111-113: Nocturne in F sharp major for piano, Op. 15/2

6. Nocturnes (3) for piano, Op. 15, CT. 111-113: Nocturne in G minor for piano, Op. 15/3

7. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 27, CT. 114-115: Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. 27/1

8. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 27, CT. 114-115: Nocturne in D flat major, Op. 27/2

9. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 32, CT. 116-117: Nocturne in B major, Op. 32/1

10. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 32, CT. 116-117: Nocturne in A flat major, Op. 32/2

Disc: 2

1. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 37, CT. 118-119: Nocturne in G minor, Op. 37/1

2. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 37, CT. 118-119: Nocturne in G major, Op. 37/2

3. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 48, CT. 120-121: Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48/1

4. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 48, CT. 120-121: Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op. 48/2

5. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 55, CT. 122-123: Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55/1

6. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 55, CT. 122-123: Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 55/2

7. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 62, CT. 124-125: Nocturne in B major, Op. 62/1

8. Nocturnes (2) for piano, Op. 62, CT. 124-125: Nocturne in E major, Op. 62/2

9. Nocturne for piano in E minor, KK IV/b

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the greatest recordings of all time., October 14, 1999

By 

blue-59 (Blount Springs, Alabama, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: Nocturnes (Audio CD)

Of the lovely, perfumed--and profound--Chopin nocturnes there are by now more than a dozen excellent, seamless, sensitive, well-recorded performances. Only one of them, however, qualifies as transcendental. Ivan Moravec treats each precious jewel as if it were Chopin's final statement to the world, or the last piece of music ever to be played. Every note, every shading, every nuance is endowed with ultimate significance. If God commanded me to justify man's existence, I think I'd hand Him these two CDs. When I heard the Connoisseur Society LPs in the sixties, I was stunned. I felt that the music, familiar as it was, was being fully revealed for the first time. I awaited the CDs eagerly and now own several sealed copies, just so I know I'll never be without them. Uncountable listenings have not dimmed the glory of this "desert island" recording. Lipatti, Friedman, and Cortot had deep insight into these masterpieces and gave superb performances of individual nocturnes, but no other set matches Moravec's. I do listen to other pianists--Arrau, Wehr--when I want to enjoy the beauty of the Chopin nocturnes but feel unable to handle the full emotional jolt from Ivan Moravec. The recorded sound is superb by any standards.

Now please, the SACD. I'll pay ANY price!

55 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A performer who feels and understands every note, July 2, 2000

By 

Stan Vernooy (Henderson, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chopin: Nocturnes (Audio CD)

Like most listeners, I ordinarily find Rubinstein the most satisfactory overall performer for almost everything Chopin composed. But in the Nocturnes, IMHO, Moravec has outdone even Rubinstein. I have the complete Nocturnes by both pianists, and so I set my CD player to compare the two recordings for each individual nocturne side by side. Rubinstein's performance isn't bad, of course, but there is an audibly greater degree of comfort and depth of understanding in Moravec's playing. (I should also note that Moravec's recording has the benefit of better sound.) Moravec seems to have internalized the music and made it entirely his own. It almost sounds as if he were the composer as well as the soloist, so directly do these performances seem to come from the heart. Occasionally Rubinstein sounds halting or tentative, but Moravec never does. You can't go wrong with these!

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most beautiful music in the world, performed wonderfully, May 17, 2001

By 

Thomas A Mulligan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: Nocturnes (Audio CD)

Chopin's Nocturnes are among the most haunting, stirring, and beautiful pieces of music ever composed. They require both physical virtuosity and emotional committment in order to be performed to the degree which they deserve. Ivan Moravec accomplishes this and more, successfully recording the whole set (excepting the two posthumous works, KK IVa No. 16 & KK IVb No. 8). Every piece on the first disk is solid in all respects; the beautiful right-hand melodies are clear and distinct, the dynamics are carefully controlled, and an extacting sense of rubato is utilized. The first track, Op. 9 No. 1 is perhaps the most excellent performance on the set; the two hands work beautifully together, as the melody whispers gently above the rhythmically perfect left-hand harmonies. Also especially notable are the pieces which comprise Op. 37 and Op. 48, all four of which are brilliantly done. Op. 48 No. 1 gets a little out of control -- as it often does -- in the poco piu lento, but concludes with the most beautiful doppio movimento I have heard. The performances of Op. 55 and Op. 62 are mediocre, but I have yet to hear them played to my complete satisfaction. This is a wonderful set, among the finest performances of the Nocturnes ever.