5 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A "Complete" Disappointment, December 31, 2003
This review is from: Chopin: Piano Concertos; Works for Piano & Orchestra (Audio CD)
I purchased this two-disc set of the Works for Piano and Orchestra from DG's "Complete Chopin Edition" from Amazon, and I regret it. The Giulini recordings featured here, Concerto No. 2 and the "Andante spinato & Grande Polonaise" both with Zimerman, are quite good. However, the other material leaves a lot to be desired. First, the Arrau/Inbal recordings are the very same ones featured on a competing Philips Duo title (which I own), and those who read my reviews know how I feel about duplication. Second, while I love vintage stereo performances, and the Askenase/Otterloo account of the "Krakowiak" hails from 1959, this work is elementary by Chopin standards, and illustrates why it's not always worthwhile to be a completist. Finally, when DG/Universal is compiling recordings for a celebratory "Complete Edition" of Chopin, why do they select a live recording of his greatest orchestral work, Piano Concerto No. 1. The Zimerman/Kondrashin is very good, but surely DG has more appropriate studio accounts in its vaults, like the Argerich/Abbado or even the Zimerman/Giulini (which I have noticed is available with the aforementioned PC No. 2 as a full-price single disc -- sounds like a better buy!). The inclusion of one of them might have helped make this a definitive collection, instead of a "complete" disappointment.
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