Chopin: Piano Works [Nocturnes - Waltzes - Ballades - Scherzi] [Box set]

Fryderyk Chopin (Artist), Tamas Vasary (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 11, 2002)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000065TUY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,110 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Throw Away Your Rubinstein, But...., July 2, 2002

By 

shantinik - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: Piano Works [Nocturnes - Waltzes - Ballades - Scherzi] (Audio CD)

I have been waiting for this release for what seems like 30 years, and it was well worth the wait. I've always appreciated Rubinstein's playing (especially of the Nocturnes and the Ballades) because he brought back the masculine element into our consciousness of Chopin.

But if you are looking for the dreamy, sensitive, and surprising element in Chopin's music -- and a real feel for its improvisational character -- these magnficent recordings, made in the mid-60s, are the best there are! Improvisionational is a real key word, one can almost hear Chopin feeling his way in these recordings (especially in the F Minor Ballade, and the Opus 72 Nocturnes.)

Vasary was one of the greatest of all Chopin interpreters in my book, and it is surprising to me that he didn't have an even bigger career. The sound on these recordings is spacious and full, and the piano sound a little bit different (I don't know for sure, but I think he used a Boesendorfer rather than a Steinway for these recordings.)

And these are inexpensive, too! So don't throw away your Rubinstein recordings, but you'll want these too, for an entirely different experience.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rewarding, September 20, 2004

By 

Canzone (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: Piano Works [Nocturnes - Waltzes - Ballades - Scherzi] (Audio CD)

I've loved these performances for a long time, and was delighted to see DG re-release them in a budget box. These are really "salon" performances, and I mean that in the best sense of the word. You won't find Pollini-pounding or Zimmermann-zapping here; what you will find is superb technique in the service of impressive interpretations. Highly recommended.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Special Chopin..., September 28, 2005

By 

Sébastien Melmoth (Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chopin: Piano Works [Nocturnes - Waltzes - Ballades - Scherzi] (Audio CD)

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Vasary plays a Boesendorfer Grand Salle which has a wonderful timbre quite different from the Steinway.

Vasary's timing and articulation are simply superb: he has a real insight into Chopin's ethos and telos: he renders the inner voicing exquisitely. Vasary's realizations suggest to me what Glenn Gould's Chopin might have sounded like had he played the Nocturnes, Ballades, Waltzes, etc.

The sound is crystal clear; the set a bargan price.
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