Chopin: The Piano Works [Box Set] [Box set]

Frederic Chopin (Composer), Vladimir Ashkenazy (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy
• Composer: Frederic Chopin
• Audio CD (June 24, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 13
• 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: Decca
• ASIN: B0000041KB
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,788 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #2 in Music > Classical > Ballets & Dances > Bourées
  • #8 in Music > Classical > Ballets & Dances > Ecossaises
  • #9 in Music > Classical > Ballets & Dances > Mazurkas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but not without its flaws, May 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Chopin: The Piano Works [Box Set] (Audio CD)

First of all, I would like to state that I believe Vladimir Ashkenazy is the premier Chopin interpreter, and I own--or have listened to--virtually all the music collected in this set. And while I think that this CD collection is the genuine Chopin article, there are some areas where, sadly, Ashkenazy comes up short.

To start with, those mediums that are Ashkenazy's and no one else's: Nocturnes, Polonaises, Mazurkas, Ballades, Scherzos, Waltzes.

I've heard various recordings of the Nocturnes, mostly by Rubinstein (who I've never enjoyed, really), but nobody can light a candle to Ashkenazy's emotionally-gripping Nocturnes, for every one of these gentle mood pieces will reach into you and gently caress your reflective soul. The Polonaises, under Ashkenazy, resound like the echos of cannon-fire, played (attacked?) with battering-ram force. I almost shiver under the power of the Op. 44 Polonaise! The Polonaise-Fantasie, every time I listen to it, throws me into an unbelievable world of mystery and wonder because, like the Third Sonata, this has to express some of the most sincere human emotions I've ever found in music; it searches for meaning through deep introspection, swimming through the mysteries of the human psyche. The Ballades, Scherzos, and Waltzes come through with never-before-seen grandeur, never leaving any room for you to question its worth or its power.

Now, those mediums which are best found through other pianists: Preludes, Etudes, Sonatas, and select miscellaneous works by Chopin.

For the Preludes, Etudes, and Sonatas, I strongly recommend Maurizio Pollini. Ashkenazy's Etudes, I'm sorry to say, I found utterly deplorable. I seem to be the only one who thinks so, but the Etudes under Ashkenazy were far too controlled and in no way as passionate and emotional as they could and/or should have been. I have listened to his Etudes repeatedly, and each time have tried to like them, but I simply cannot, because there is no free-falling passion, no starkly raging emotion--just flat and too tightly controlled notes with no life of their own. That, you see, is the beauty of Chopin's music--that each piece, no matter how long or short, contains its own little miniature world, and in Ashkenazy's Etudes, his super-tight control of each piece has wrecked, I think, the unfathomable, beautuous spirit of these piano miniatures. For a more alive, tempestuous, and in-your-face recording of the Etudes, go with Pollini, because Pollini delivers.

The Preludes are a different story. I tend to steer more in the direction of the aforesaid Pollini, but Ashkenazy does offer a rather curious and intriguing mood to some of the Preludes. There are some times, however, where I feel like he's trying too hard to adapt the music to his own musical style--at the expense of the Prelude, I might add, because Ashkenazy is taking away some of the more emotional and eye-catching elements in the process; in essence, he is taking away Chopin's voice and instead inserting his own. Take, for example, the Prelude No. 24 in D minor, which is very passionate and aggressive. Under Pollini's hands, this Prelude sounds at all times on the verge of losing control of the pent-up anger (shown through the raging tempo and boxing left-hand accompaniment), which adds lustrous flair and fire to the piece. Under Ashkenazy, however, the tempo is slowed and too much control is placed on the angry ride, thus resulting in a rather flat and uninteresting Prelude.

The Op. 45 Prelude, however, as with the Three Etudes, op. post., belongs solely to Ashkenazy. The Op. 45 Prelude, in particular, is almost visual in its tender brushstrokes, painting a scene of a lonely, lachrymose sunset.

The Sonatas of Pollini come highly recommended, too. That CD only offers the Second (Funeral March) and Third Sonatas, but they're well worth it. You can feel the mournful repose of the Funeral March from Pollini, shed with pure heart and without any undue exuberance. The Third Sonata, Op. 58, is actually a favorite of mine, because it conveys the most honest and sincere form of human expression throughout the work. While the Second Sonata makes you feel like part of a charted journey, the Third Sonata feels more in touch with human spirit, longing inner voices, and a melancholy that touches your innermost emotional chord.

The Impromptus, in my opinion, are a bit of a question mark, solely because I have yet to hear a truly standalone recording of them. I own an Impromptus CD by Murray Perahia, who executes them admirably well. In this recording you will also get the Barcarolle, the Berceuse, and the Op. 49 Fantasie. Out of all the music on the Perahia CD, though, the one which outshines all the rest is the Op. 49 Fantasie, which is a passionate hurricane under Perahia's hands.

But back to Ashkenazy's set, for I'm digressing again. The additional (smaller) pieces in this set are quite charming. I always seem to visualize a fiery dance whenever I hear the Tarantelle, and the Allegro de Concert continues to enthrall me with its larger-than-life complexities. I must give kudos to Ashkenazy for the Allegro de Concert, though, because you can hear through the music the extreme technical demands on the pianist, and I continually marvel at how Ashkenazy seems to rip through them with such remarkable splendor and ease. The Berceuse was very dreamy and delightful, like watching a night-dream though a smoky haze (equal in caliber, I'd say, to Perahia's recording), but the magic and grandeur of Ashkenazy's Barcarolle was lost by an overly quick tempo. Here, I would have to take Perahia's Barcarolle over Ashkenazy's, but truly, the most captivating and provocative Barcarolle I've ever heard came from Van Cliburn . . . and I can't find that anywhere on CD!

All told, though, this Chopin set is still the genuine article, and comes with my highest recommendations. But don't limit yourself to just these recordings, because there are numerous others out there that are just as good.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great experience, January 11, 2000

By 

Ray Hoole (Brandeston, Suffolk, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: The Piano Works [Box Set] (Audio CD)

Lovers of Chopin and admirers of Ashkenazy will find much to enjoy in these 13 CDs, and need not hesitate to buy. Be warned, however, that the recordings span ten years from 1974 to 1984 and although the piano sound is well captured in typical Decca fashion, with the percussive character of the instrument to the fore, there is considerable variation in the quality of the venues used. The booklet gives a venue listing, but identifies neither the dates nor the venues of individual items. We are told, however, which items are DDD and which are ADD. In general, the ADD items fare better: here, the worst you have to contend with is the occasional birdsong realistically captured along with the performance in hand. Several of the DDD items are marred by excessive background noise in the form of low-frequency rumble from what sounds like an air-conditioning system. ADD and DDD items are somewhat indiscriminately mixed, too (although the sounds are usually very well matched, and you will not always be aware of the change from one to the other). For example, if you are familiar with, and love, the analogue recordings of the Ballades and Scherzos, you may be disappointed to find that Ballades 1 and 4 and Scherzos 1 and 4 are new digital recordings. And, to make matters worse, Ballade No.4 is one of the DDD recordings plagued by the low-frequency background noise, and in this case the noise is allowed to continue after the performance is over, right through the pause and into the first chord of Scherzo No.1, where, quite audibly, it stops. Crazy editing policy, Decca!

Despite these complaints, I greatly enjoyed listening to Ashkenazy's Chopin throughout the 13 CDs, and the set will remain in my collection, frequently visited.

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The genius of Chopin via the mastery of Ashkenazy, October 20, 2001

By 

Gregory J. Hrivnak (Totowa, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: The Piano Works [Box Set] (Audio CD)

I have listened to the works of a number of composers, but Chopin always stands out with his remarkable ability to translate raw human emotion into musical tones from the piano. In my opinion, what other composers might have sought to accomplish with the variety of voices in the orchestra, Chopin was able to do with one instrument. To replicate this is no easy task, and Ashkenazy does a fantastic job in this set of CDs.
The music of Chopin contains so much pure poetic beauty, but I think his true genius comes through in pieces written in the minor keys. Chopin was a truly great blues composer of his time. I suppose that the most common vehicle for expressing "blues" or "tragedy" in that era was the opera. But Chopin could accomplish it without the need for words. He knew how to express human pain and angst. Take the Nocturne in E minor, for example (Opus 72 #1). If you can appreciate the blues, then I'm sure you'd have no trouble hearing the pathos in that piece played by Ashkenazy. To understand, appreciate, and especially to play the blues, one must be able to feel the blues. And again, to express this musically is no easy task. For the piano, it requires subtle technique with dynamics and license in meter (which Chopin was occasionally criticized for) to truly translate the emotion. Ashkenazy does this quite well.

I'm no expert in judging the electronic quality of a recorded CD, but I detected no flaws in that respect. I am an appreciator of the music. And in that light, I definitely recommend this CD set.