Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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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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I returned to these recordings thirty years after I had heard them on LPs. It was a very rewarding experience. Vasary does not have the explosive virtuosity of Richter in the Scherzi or the sweeping emotional power of Rubinstein in the Ballades, but these are very illuminating performances, full of poetry, elegance and detail. Vasary does not take freedoms in his rubati, but there is nothing pedantic or plain about his playing. His is crystal-clear pianism, accurate and totally engrossing. Don't miss.

As per my review of Tamas Vasary's recording of the Etudes, Sonatas, Impromptus and Concerti I fully recommend this reissue of the Chopin Nocturnes, Scherzi, Waltzes and Ballades to all lovers of Chopin's music. Vasary is a such a gifted and poetic Chopin interpreter. His interest lies in conveying the heart of Chopin, not in self-aggrandisement and on this recording he captures the elusive spirit of the Nocturnes and Ballades as well as any pianist I have heard. Like most collectors I have several performances of these major works and I return to Tamas Vasary for authenticity of style, cleanness of performance and sheer beauty of sound. Never does he allow his prodigious technique to override the poetry of the music. Vasary is a true aristocrat of the piano and these performances are a truly reliable rendition of some of Chopin's most sublime compositions. Strongly recommended.

Virtuosity with musicality = artistry. Tamas Vasary has it. 'nuff said.

One of my favorite Chopin disks.

Nothing prepares one for this onslaught. Tamas Vasary is a reputable, B-grade concert pianist who nowadays spends more time on the podium than at the keyboard. His Waltzes, Ballades and Scherzi here cannot compete with the likes of Rubinstein and Arrau (the latter being sovereign in Opus 70 / 3). But the Nocturnes are another matter. Perhaps he was touched by the Hand of Diana or aced it on the day; I don't know; nor does it matter. Whatever the explanation be, Vasary is punching way above his weight division. We are the beneficiaries.

Like all masters in this domain, Vasary bespeaks twilight, fragility and transience "in the forests of the night". But there is something more in play. As recorded here, the very first Nocturne in B Flat Minor - Chopin at his most chimerical - is just as subversive of the Newtonian time / space continuum as Einstein. Much the same could be said of the other Nocturnes. Perhaps therein lies their appeal, particularly to those among us who are Janus-faced and ever-trying to encompass our own Books of Genesis, Exodus, Judges and Ruth (Opus 27 /1):

"Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live

My very life again though cold in death:

Come back to me in dreams, that I may give

Pulse for pulse, breath for breath:

Speak low, lean low,

As long ago, my love, how long ago."

And does not Opus 27/2 seem like an answer to everything?

If one lacks this mindset, Vasary is going to appear damn ordinary.

The recording is just as atmospheric as the performances themselves.

Tarry not.

i echo the sentiments of other reviewers: vasary's chopin is incomparable, wonderful, essential. these 1965 stereo recordings of the nocturnes are among the finest available, and the ballades are unsurpassed.

to my sensibility, the key to vasary's approach is its depth and nuance. each phrase seems sculpted from the heart, and susceptible to the heart's changes of emotion; there is a marvelous dynamic range and sensitivity to changes in tempo; above all, there is an inexpressible landscape of poetry that is simply invisible in the other, "read the text" interpretations. vasary might claim to have channeled chopin's spirit, so absolutely right do his interpretations sound. the hidden element is his technical command: even richter's playing does not surpass vasary's ability to turn on the power when necessary (for example, in the A flat ballade). these recordings are among the unique treasures of the chopin catalog.

the digital sound is forward, clear, warm, well balanced across the range -- and to my ear more effective than the original vinyl.

Chopin wrote 21 nocturnes, 18 of which were published during his lifetime. I love the playing of Vasary on these nocturnes but find it troubling that the posth. C minor nocturne is missing from this collection. Completeists should look elsewhere.