Customer Reviews

Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

From the start I must mention that I find it difficult to write an objective paragraph about a recording that has so completely changed me. I will now find it impossible to listen to the "old" or more conventional interpretations of these two concerti. This was in fact the promise of Krystian Zimerman, that he would bring us these works "in a style we have never heard before." This reflects many discoveries that Zimerman has made and also his deep understanding of the music. (Compare the recordings he made with Giulini and the L.A.P.O. twenty years ago; they sound lifeless in comparison.) These recordings were rush-released by DG to coincide with Zimerman's worldwide tour of this program in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death. I heard Zimerman live with this program Nov.4 in Worcester, MA and can easily say that this was the most moving concert I have ever attended in my life. The audience around me was equally stunned, and there were some gasps in the slow movements of each concerto. I did not know that music could go this far into a world of fantasy and intimate communication. What went on between Zimerman and his orchestra was something I have never seen before; something reserved for those who have a deep understanding for each other, and who have painstakingly worked through each phrase. There is a stunning emphasis on the orchestration, (note the newly composed bars of music) such that the effect is that of chamber music. Not only did I feel as if I were hearing these works anew, but for the very first time. Zimerman plays with seemingly unbelievable ease, yet with poetic and dynamic fire together with an orchestra of very distinct sound. These recordings capture the moment in fantastically balanced sound; one senses the music is being invented on the spot. This is what I always imagined music-making to be about. Bravo to Zimerman and his personally selected, trained, and conducted orchestra. One only dreams of what will be next from Zimerman's all-embracing talent.

It is hard not to get cynical about the modern classical music business, where media-hyped stars crank out recording after meaningless recording of a handful of overused war horses that possess the unfortunate quality of commercial appeal. It often seems inconceivable that the pieces (for example, the Chopin and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerti, the Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Sibelius Violin Concerti, the Brahms Symphonies, etc. etc.) could still be rescued from this exploitation. Zimerman and his orchestra utterly refute any such pessimism. They restore two of the most sadly abused pieces to an almost shocking level of authenticity, freshness, and immediacy. It's not enough to say they have a deep understanding of this music. No: they have it in their blood, it is completely natural to them, the speak Chopin's idiom as if it were their mother tongue. The result is one of the most atmospheric, intimate, moving, beautiful, interesting recordings I have ever heard. You have to go deep into the history of recorded music to find comparable achievements. I am thinking of the Cortot-Thibaud-Casals collaborations, Furtwaengler's Beethoven Symphonies, Oistrach's and Barshai's Sinfonia Concertante, and a few others. Without a question, this is the most important (and the most enjoyable) classical recording in years. Buy it! It will blow you away.

My wife and I had the marvelous opportunity to attend a performance of these pieces by Zimerman and the Polish Festival Orchestra at Salle Pleyel in Paris on October 17, 1999, the 150th anniversary of the composer's death. This recording, made is August of 1999, captures the emotional intensity and commitment of the soloist and orchestra. When the first piano concerto was completed, an electric charge seemed to be released in the concert hall as the entire audience rose from their seats and roared their approval. The second piano concerto was performed with the same loving attention and passionate commitment and received a similar response from the audience. You should be aware, however, that this is a longer and, at times, more drawn out performance of both pieces (especially in the middle movements), a condition that might not suit the tastes of all listeners. With that warning, I can promise you an experience that comes amazingly close to that achieved at Salle Pleyel that magical evening.

I understand very well why so many reviewers hate this recording, but I understand even more and sympathize with everybody who finds Zimerman's new Chopin release fascinating (to say the least). An impulse (patriotic duty? I am Polish) made me buy this disc and it was one of the most inspired choices in my CD buyers "career" (I buy a lot!). Zimerman resuscitated my fading sympathy for these two marvellous pieces of music - I simply heard too much of Chopin's piano concerti in my life and no recording - new or old - was able to give me just a grain of excitement needed for enjoyment. Zimerman's Chopin was shocking, but it woke me up! I don't care if it distorts or not the composer's intentions - what do we know about Chopin's intentions anyway? If it distorts the Chopin in our heads - that's even better! With music-making of such dedication and technical accomplishment, every "distortion" of any composer's intentions is very welcome!

This performance is the realization of a 20-year dream by conductor/soloist Zimerman, himself the 1975 Grand Prize winner of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. His dream was to tour and perform the two concerti for the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death in 1849, with a hand-picked Polish-only orchestra. Nearly 400 audition tapes were submitted, out of which he picked the very best 57 young performers. I have heard them perform this program live at Mechanics Hall in Worcester MA, as well as on CD, and both are incredible musical experiences. This recording shows, far more than any other I've heard, Chopin's ardor for the beautiful but unattainable young soprano Constancia Gladkowska.

The playing is other-worldly. For example, in the second movement of the F minor, the strings enter with a sound that appears to have no beginning, as though it were there since the beginning of time. The result is transporting. Whatever your age, you are 19 again (as Chopin was,) and passionately, hopelessly in love with someone you cannot have.

Buy this CD but before listening, make sure the shades are drawn, and that all cares are set aside. This is a trip (don't we all wish it were a one-way trip!) into the world of perfect, imagined love.

I was one of 500 who heard this performance live in Washington DC. Absolute perfection, dozens of colors, precision of instruments, not a note out of place - probably one the greatest recordings ever of these two pieces - if Zimerman isn't the greatest living pianist today, I'd like to know who is! Buy this recording immediately, it will probably win the grammy award this year or next!

Zimerman took his time assembling these performances, rehearsing long and hard with a handpicked group of instrumentalists, and then touring with them. Hence the orchestral accompaniment is much more accomplished than one generally hears on record or in the concert hall. And Zimerman is one of our most poetic pianists. That may be part of the problem with the push-pull tempi, mostly on the slow side, in the fast movements. The middle movements, however, are pure gold. Zimerman certainly has something personal to say about these works and these performances are worth hearing.

Chopins piano concertos always had to fight the critisism that the orchestral part was to much of a side dish to the piano. The recording made by Zimermann shows an entirely new light on these works. Zimermann excells in what is probably the finest playing found in the world today (there were even aspects I found 'new' and more exciting when compared to other great performances, like for instance Rubinsteins'). But also the orchestra gives more 'dimension' in this performance than I ever heard before. Even the most fanatic Chopin listener will find something new in these performances. I do not listen to the other performances I have anymore!

Recommend it very, very much - as most of the other reviewers did...

These concertos were written by a young man in love. In 1830, at the age of 19, Chopin was smitten with the young Polish soprano Konstancja Gladkowska, and he credits her as the inspiration for his two Concertos for Piano and Orchestra, composed during that year. He wrote to a friend: "This is a young, pretty person, who plays, because, perhaps unfortunately, I have my ideal that I have been faithfully serving for six months already without speaking to her, of whom I dream, in honor of whom is the adagio to my concerto..." The youthful, melancholic passion of his first, yet unrequited love is certainly reflected in the concertos, especially in the slow movements, which Chopin described in the following words: "It is rather romantic, peaceful, melancholic. It should give the impression of a loving glance at a place which brings a thousand dear memories to mind. It is a kind of reverie on a beautiful vernal night, by moonlight."

One of the most remarkable things about Chopin is that as a composer he grew to his full potential very early in life. By the time he composed these concertos at the age of just 19, he had already developed his own completely unique pianistic idiom, quite unlike any composer before or since: like Athena springing forth fully formed from the head of Zeus. The mazurka in the finale of the Second Concerto; the romantic nocturne-like slow movements; the graceful, delicate, aristocratic embellishments: it's all pure, unadulterated Chopin. He never composed a single piece of music that did not feature the piano, and he was the author of only a small handful of works for piano and orchestra. Preferring to work in the smaller forms, Chopin is not so much remembered today for his orchestrations, which are sometimes even re-composed by those who find fault with them. But one must remember that the piano concertos were written as a labor of love, and that even if the orchestrations are not perfect, they should be treated delicately and with the same love that Chopin himself put into them.

This is the sensitive new approach that Krystian Zimerman and the Polish Festival Orchestra adopt in their landmark interpretation of the Chopin Piano Concertos. Zimerman hand-picked each and every member of his orchestra from among the finest young musicians in Poland, with the specific purpose of holding a world tour of the concertos on the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death. This recording is the result of that tour, and is nothing short of a visionary musical masterpiece. As both conductor and soloist, Zimerman blends the orchestral sound perfectly with his own performance, capturing every nuance with adroit delicacy, perfectly dovetailing every phrase. I never doubted Zimerman's virtuosity before, but this recording fixes him firmly in my mind as one of the greatest pianists of our time. His attitude towards the music is truly one of love and humility before the composer, rather than "How fast can I play this?" or "How can I use this piece to show off?" His attention to detail is amazing: listening to his performance one gets the sense that he has come to a complete understanding of Chopin's music, capturing the idiom of the composer perfectly, and leaving the listener feeling a profound sense of "rightness." The music on these discs leaves a very lasting impression, and I encourage anyone interested to listen to these recordings and experience the definitive interpretation of Chopin's Piano Concertos.

There are far too many excellent recordings of the Chopin concertos to earmark this one as the best. I would be hard pressed to name a favorite.

But this one is different in the sense that the orchestra is much more of a participant than most other recordings. To be sure, the piano is still the star, but this recording proves that the orchestral part is not merely an accompaniment. While Chopin will never be known as a brilliant orchestrator, these recordings reveal that he had more of a sense for orchestral color than previously thought.

The piano playing is excellent, the orchestra plays with passion, a very good, unique recording.

Recommended