Garrick Ohlsson: The Complete Chopin Piano Works Vol. 11 - Mazurkas [Import]

Chopin (Artist), Ohlsson (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Arabesque Recordings
• ASIN: B00001O2XS
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #528,751 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Four Mazurkas, Op. 6: No. 1 In F Sharp Minor

2. Four Mazurkas, Op. 6: No. 2 In C Sharp Minor

3. Four Mazurkas, Op. 6: No. 3 In E Major

4. Four Mazurkas, Op. 6: No. 4 In E Flat Minor

5. Five Mazurkas, Op. 7: No. 1 In B Flat Major

6. Five Mazurkas, Op. 7: No. 2 In A Minor

7. Five Mazurkas, Op. 7: No. 3 In F Minor

8. Five Mazurkas, Op. 7: No. 4 In A Flat Major

9. Five Mazurkas, Op. 7: No. 5 In C Major

10. Four Mazurkas, Op. 17: No. 1 In B Flat Major

See all 29 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Three Mazurkas, Op. 50: No. 1 In G Major

2. Three Mazurkas, Op. 50: No. 2 In A Flat Major

3. Three Mazurkas, Op. 50: No. 3 In C Sharp Minor

4. Three Mazurkas, Op. 56: No. 1 In B Major

5. Three Mazurkas, Op. 56: No. 2 In C Major

6. Three Mazurkas, Op. 56: No. 3 In C Minor

7. Three Mazurkas, Op. 59: No. 1 In A Minor

8. Three Mazurkas, Op. 59: No. 2 In A Flat Major

9. Three Mazurkas, Op. 59: No. 3 In F Sharp Minor

10. Three Mazurkas, Op. 63: No. 1 In B Major

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "DANCES OF THE SOUL", December 12, 2001

By 

Melvyn M. Sobel "Melvyn M. Sobel" (Freeport, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garrick Ohlsson: The Complete Chopin Piano Works Vol. 11 - Mazurkas (Audio CD)

In his book, CHOPIN: THE MAN AND HIS MUSIC, published in 1900, James Huneker wrote the above prescient observation about the fabulous Mazurkas. "Dances of the soul." Wonderful. Wish I had thought of it. (One might conclude, then, that Chopin's Waltzes are "dances of the heart," and his Polonaises, "dances of the spirit." The fact is: Dance inhabits Chopin's musical "soul," if not his entire musical "world." His Rondos, Tarantelle, the Bolero, Contradanse, the Ecossaises, et. al., attest to this even further.)

Liszt (that incredible reprobate!) said of the Mazurkas: "Coquetries, vanities, fantasies, inclinations, elegies, vague emotions, passions, conquests, struggles...all, all meet in this dance."

With these thoughts in mind, I came to Garrick Ohlsson's fascinating journey through the Chopin Mazurkas (Volume 11 in his Arabesque traversal of the composer's "complete" works). Not since Rubinstein have these mazurkas been treated with such affection; yet, as personal as the older pianist's interpretations are--- and make no mistake about it, his latter-day renditions are masterful benchmarks--- I feel Mr. Ohlsson supercedes him in his sheer willingness to dare explore the inner voices, the ticklish quirkiness and awkward symmetry, the haunting, persistent melancholy and intrinsic pathos. Beneath, and despite, their seemingly extrovert nature lies a morbidity untapped by most performers, yet so linked to the Chopin personality. It takes courage to plunge this deeply.

Ohlsson takes up the challenge, and the sound given him is full, warm, intimate, matching his conception flawlessly. The liner notes by Frank Cooper, as always, are excellent.

[Running time--- CD 1: 71:20 CD 2: 69:27]