Chopin: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3 [Import]

Frederic Chopin (Composer), Maurizio Pollini (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Maurizio Pollini
• Composer: Frederic Chopin
• Audio CD (February 3, 1986)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Dg Imports
• ASIN: B000001G6A
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,498 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Chopin sonatas have never been played like this before!, January 31, 2000

By 

Chip Hartranft (Arlington, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3 (Audio CD)

Maurizio Pollini is one of the most important pianists of this century, and this is one of his finest recordings. His approach to these familiar pieces is characteristically revelatory. As always, Pollini's supernatural control is fully at the service of a commanding musical sensibility to which sentimentality and neurosis are utterly foreign. He can play with a devastating power and intensity, of course - have movements 1 & 2 of the Bb minor sonata ever been rendered with such cosmic savagery? - but he is just as capable of heartbreaking lyricism, as in the hypnotic middle section of the Funeral March or the Largo of the B minor.

Oddly enough, Pollini is often criticized for being 'cold'. His remarkable memory, control, and architectural sense of a piece can strike the casual listener as premeditated, it seems. In fact, his control permits him an astonishing degree of freedom, and his live performances are spontaneous and deeply felt. There is more to Maurizio Pollini than his celebrated technique, and these recordings show that he is one of the tenderest, most deeply committed pianists on record. A must-buy!

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, December 30, 2000

By 

Christopher Smith (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chopin: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3 (Audio CD)

Pollini's is easily the best interpretation of these sonatas I've ever heard. The standard take on these works is that they don't really have a coherent structure or traditional sense of development, and that Chopin just threw a bunch of brilliant but nevertheless disparate pieces together. In Pollini's hands the sustained unity of both is never in doubt. The "Funeral March" Sonata is miraculous. The first two movements have a wild, almost insane abandon about them, which make the hushed atmosphere of the slow movement even more menacing and intense. It's what I'd somewhat melodramatically call a dance of death in four movements. To be both manic and superbly controlled with one's playing seems a contradiction in terms, but believe me, Pollini does it. The third sonata is virtually unknown, but it is a lot like Chopin's other late work (the Bacarolle, the fourth Ballade) with its introspective, serene and meditative qualities. Although it's completely different in mood and tone from the other sonata, Pollini again is equal to the task. Pollini's Chopin is unique, and his rendition of the more intellectual works like the Etudes and the Preludes is second to none. Now he's shown what he can do with another dimension of Chopin, and to truly appreciate these sonatas, it's essential to listen to what he achieves here.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Chopin Performances!, April 10, 2010

By 

Jay Stone (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chopin: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3 (Audio CD)

First, let me say I own and have heard many, many, many performances of these two sonatas. I don't think any serious performer could stake a claim to pianistic fame without coming to grips with them. Many try, but only few succeed.

This is one of the successes. The first time I heard this recording, I was simply blown away. Even two decades later, this recording amazes me. Why? In it, Pollini demonstrates total command of his instrument in the service of a piercingly unique interpretation of Chopin's world. Other pianists may give you technical perfection or they may give you stunning interpretation, but rarely do you get both. Let's not forget Pollini exploded into international prominence by taking first place in the 1965 Chopin competition. I don't think the judging panels at these competitions are taken in by technical brilliance alone. Something more is asked and Pollini provided it in spades.

I do not understand why some people dismiss Pollini as too perfect, too cold, too rational. I think it's partly because so many people demand Chopin be interpreted in only one way - precious and delicate. The premise of Romanticism was the power and importance of human emotion and feeling in direct challenge to the depressing, dehumanizing forces taking place in the 19th century. Perhaps that's why we still like music of the Romantic period - we live in the dismal triumph of rationalism. Why limit Chopin's expression to precious and delicate? Why can't it be (and for Chopin, it was) a powerful statement? Pollini's performance of these works exemplifies the power and intensity of feeling: it probes, argues, demands, doubts, regroups, and never gives in.

I've had the pleasure of hearing Pollini perform three or four times in the last twenty years. He is alleged to be especially "cold" in his Beethoven performances, but his Beethoven one night brought me to tears in the concert hall.

Everyone is entitled to their Chopin (or Beethoven, or fill-in-the-blank) interpretation preferences, but it's a mistake to limit yourself to just one. I love Pollini's Chopin recordings, but I also love and appreciate some of the Chopin recordings of other pianists.

But make no mistake - this recording is one of the greatest Chopin performances ever committed to disc.