Customer Reviews

Maria Joćo Pires - Chopin · The Nocturnes

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all, I will join in lambasting the fool below who claims there is only one way to interpret this music.

Chopin's nocturnes are not technically difficult pieces. Artistic interpretation is everything here. Maria Joao Pires plays with depth and sensitivity which rings true and clear. The first time I heard the first track (B-flat minor nocturne) on this set, my breath was taken away. This is truly a first class recording.

I own the interpretations by Artur Rubinstein, Daniel Barenboim, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Claudio Arrau, Idil Biret (Naxos), and Ivan Moravec. Moravec's version has been hailed as the best of this group, and until I heard Pires, I would have agreed. However, Pires's interpretation is every bit as valid AND the modern Deutsche Grammophon sound quality is superb (I noticed this album is now sold under the Decca label). [By the way, if you buy Moravec's version, get the overseas digitally remastered Ultima Nonesuch version from a European vendor so you don't get stuck with the US-licensed version]

Beyond the excellence of the recording and the flawlessness of her technique, Pires' simply honest and genial interpretation pays the highest hommage to Chopin's Nocturnes that has ever been recorded. Muito Obrigado pela sua sinceridade, Maestra! Bravissimo!!

One must first note that this CD contains all 21 Noctures not 19 as many records do. Secondly, it must be mentioned that this is not an extremely original interpretation of a rather familiar set. But there is a lot to be said for strict renditions that follow the spirit of the artist's intent.

While Chopin infused many of his most beautiful works with sudden rushes and furious passages, the overall spirit of the Nocturnes is that of a languid afternoon as the shadow of the setting sun slowly stretches over the landscape. This is Pires' interpretation and it is a valid one. The dreamy passages glide and flow from melody to melody. There is a softness and a slight hesitation in the playing. While some may criticize the technical aspects, most listeners prefer the beautiful and the satisfying over the imaginative. This recording has depths of emotion that is rare today and for that reason alone deserves the highest accolades.

A quick glance at the many recordings of the Nocturnes that are for sale at Amazon, and you might wonder - why would anybody produce yet another recording? Because the Nocturnes allow a pianist to show so much more than technical skill - a deeply personal interpretation, if you will. Some reviewers here can't get to grips with that, they insist there is just one way of playing the Nocturnes and that happens to be the way they like it. By this reasoning, we should only listen to Rachmaninov playing Rachmaninov and stop right there. Well I have rows of Chopin recordings and lots of Pires recordings (mostly Mozart). Only an oaf could not hear that this is a first class recording, among the best there is (yes I have Lipatti / Arrau / Pollini recordings as well). But more than this, it is Mario Joao Pires you're hearing, a person whose intense experiences in life have allowed her to record these works, in this way. I used to think nobody could play the Nocturne No.8 in D flat better than Lipatti, but than I heard this interpretation and I realised, it's not better but different, and just as valid. She was already one of the great pianists of the 20th century - and these recordings (with the Schubert Impromptus) will serve notice for the 21st.

Put simply, Every piece is perfectly played. Although I don't like Pires' Chopin piano concerto No.1 as it lacks momentum, I love her nocturnes. Every note in these extremely intricate pieces sounds convincing and flow of music sounds so natural.

I know there are lots of cheaper recordings for nocturnes, like Daniel Barenboim's on DG, Claudio Arrau's on Philips, or Fou Ts'ong's on Sony Classical. But I definitely recommend this instead of them.

First, like everyone else I love Chopin, no suprises there
Second, these are very slow, and relatively easy to play as far as Chopin's music goes, which allows the "interpretation" or "reading" to take precedence over the technicality one is often bombarded with ala Horowitz (not knocking Horowitz, he and Argerich are my personal favorites), allowing not only Chopin's ideas to come through but also ones own, which is exactly what happened when the stars aligned and Pires sat down to bless prosperity with imo THE BEST complete set of Nocturnes, I can't eat just one, this disc is meant to be played through on repeat, a copy remains in my truck along with Rabin's Caprices, Argerich's 1965 recording, and a Horowitz hodgepodge CD of my own creation, those 3 CD's usually don't get the response a lover of piano and fiddle expects, as most people hear that stuff and call it noise, but this set will please ANY audience, providing they like music and have emotions, words cannot express this set, personal favorite is Opus 9 no.2 btw, but it'll be something diff next week :P
PS: all the other guys you hear about like Moravec and Pollini are OK but seem "constrained" imo, especially Pollini, I really can't listen them knowing this CD exists, if not this I would suggest Rubenstein as my second pick for the set, but again a distant 2nd

Many pianists have tried their hands at Chopin's Nocturne's; few have created anything other than a pretty picture with any of them! The exception to this catalogue of mediocrity was the great Arthur Rubinstein. His performance of these pieces was romantic without being sentimental, powerful without being painful and deep without drowning the listener. In the years since Rubinstein's death, lovers of Chopin have been fishing about for an artist who can do justice to the nocturnes. Maria Joao Pires is that artist. Her interpretations strip much of the drawing room cliche from these works and present them with a power and a lack of pretense that I find as enjoyable as it is refreshing. The passion of her readings are raw in many places, but when required her playing has a delicate shimmering quality with an almost "otherworldly" beauty. I suppose that in comparison, Rubinstein's performance has a beauty that just doesn't exist anymore, but of her generation and in comparison to any one else, Pires is pre-eminent.

The Nocturnes are some of the greatest works of Chopin's output. There is always a tension, a passion under the surface dreaminess. Pires captures all the complex elements of the Nocturnes very well, at least as well as Ashkenazy and Rubinstein do in their recordings, and the sound is considerably better than either of the other two (particularly the Rubinstein, which suffers from a somewhat veiled recording with some distracting tape hiss). Buy it!

Maria Joćo Pires is a pianist of subtle gifts and finds her niche in this popular recording of the twenty-one Nocturnes by Frédéric Chopin. And if ever there were a definitive mood for the setting of these beautiful, varied pieces it surely is in the hands of Pires. Other pianists may search for and find alternative phrasings to please the ear of their followers, but as for a presentation of the entire set of Nocturnes few can compete with this elegant performance.

Pires plays with full command of both hands: one hand does not accompany the other as in the playing of some other pianists. Pires produces a rich palette of timbre and nuance and that approach is particularly appropriate for this opus by Chopin the pianist. The pacing of each nocturne seems to assuredly glide into the one that follows and the spaciousness allowed by the 2 CD format allows all the suspense and relaxation before an after each number. This is a fine recording, one of the best of the entire set of Nocturnes, and Maria Joćo Pires deserves the accolades garnered from this special album. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, September 05

This recording is so good it leaves you - well, breathless! Technically, these nocturnes are excellent, with so much passion and intelligence. Pires has a wide range of dynamics and her tone balance and sensitivity are quite simply better than any other I have heard. I would recommend this recording for anyone, from concert artist to one who is hearing Chopin for the first time.