Chopin: Waltzes Nos. 1-14 [Original recording remastered]

Frederic Chopin (Composer), Dinu Lipatti (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Dinu Lipatti
• Composer: Frederic Chopin
• Audio CD (January 12, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00000GCA8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,947 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incomparable, April 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Chopin: Waltzes Nos. 1-14 (Audio CD)

The playing is immaculate: rythm, phrasing, transitioning, rubato, technique. Lipatti reveals the depth and melancholy of Chopin's waltzes, rather than their lightness (e.g. #14 in E minor, posthumous opus). Detail never comes in the way of seriousness here; try #3 in A minor, op.34 #2, or #7 in C sharp minor op.64 #2, to see how simplicity can amount to greatness. (This is not to say that Lipatti ignored detail; he was the quintessential perfectionist.) Note that he left two recordings of the waltzes. This is the studio one, which I find more satisfying. During his later recording, live at Besancon, Lipatti had to be carried off stage before the end of the program, so close he was to death.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional, September 6, 2000

By 

bruce horner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: Waltzes Nos. 1-14 (Audio CD)

I never thought that a set of Chopin's Waltzes could ever compete with the Rubinstein for me, but this one by Dinu Lipatti is exceptional. This was a man who truly loved this music and had the talent to show it. The sound is acceptable given the age of the recording, and the Barcarolle, Nocturne, and Mazurka are also very fine. I don't know why the Waltzes are presented out of order, but you can always program the CD player to play them in numbered sequence. This is music that you don't have to be in the mood for----hear it and you are in IT'S mood.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Luminous, December 29, 2003

By 

Boris Bangemann "boyse" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: Waltzes Nos. 1-14 (Audio CD)

Yes, luminous is the word that describes Lipatti's recording of the Fourteen Waltzes best: "bright or shining, especially in the dark."

I bought this CD fourteen years ago, and since then I have not found an interpretation that even comes close to Lipatti's. His recording of Chopin's waltzes is worlds apart from those of all other pianists. No one else captured the terrifying and exhilarating coexistence of darkness and light in these ostensibly innocent pieces as convincingly as Lipatti.

Waltzes are dances of joy, very easy to learn and perform. Once very popular among all classes, their emotional range covered everything from the exuberant to the sentimental. Today, they have a reputation for either rustic fun or plain kitsch.

What Lipatti found in Chopin's waltzes goes far beyond the conventional. Played by him, these dances are testament to the pleasure to live in the face of suffering. Lipatti is the one pianist who can genuinely express both the joy of living and the awareness of mortality in as simple a piece of music as a waltz.

Playful, wise, sublime. Luminous. Listen!