Customer Reviews

Mazurkas

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Are these superbly nuanced performances Rubinstein's greatest Chopin recordings? David Hurwitz thinks so. Personally, I would vote for the Nocturnes, but the Mazurkas run them a close second. Wherever you rank them in the Rubinstein discography of Chopin (and I like them much better than his 30's recordings of the Mazurkas for EMI) this is imperishable and cherishable Chopin.

I love the Mazurkas and have played quite a number of them enthusiastically (and badly!) over the years. Two artists stand out for me; Fou Tsong and Rubinstein. The Fou Tsong has an immediate, haunting appeal but the more you try to play them yourself, the more you realise just what an achievement the Rubinstein performances were. With two or three exceptions he seems to explore every nuance of the music. It grows on you with each listening whilst the Fou Tsong, with its occasionally overdone delicacy, fades a little. Listen to the little Mazurka number 13, which can't quite decide if it is in C major or A minor. I bet you hold your breath whilst you listen to Rubinstein

Rubinstein. Chopin. Mazurkas. Perfection. The impeccable Rubinstein rubato shines most when he plays the works which invite overindulgence, like the dance forms, or the easily sentimentalized nocturnes. His rhythmic restraint is admirable. These recordings are quirky yet authoritative enough to make me wonder whether only a fellow Pole can play Chopin with such multifariousness of movement within the staff. I've heard other recordings of the mazurkas, mainly individual performance pieces in compiliations, but none sparkle like the way Rubinstein makes them sparkle. Sublime.

Artists rarely declare their satisfaction with a performance and the fact that Rubinstein did so makes this recording all the more important. Chopin excelled in many formats for the piano but he is usually thought of as a miniaturist. No better example of this exists than this recording of the Mazurkas.

One must remember that the Mazurkas were originally Polish dances, thus their odd yet similar rhythms. They vary in both length and depth but each is a poignant poem, dedicated not only to friends but also, silently to his birthplace, Poland. He wears his patriotism on his sleeve - something unthinkable today - and emptied his sould into his music.

About the playing there is nothing much to add to the other reviewers. It seems as if Rubinstein gathered all his artistic energy for this recording and it is impossible to imagine one Mazurka standing alone. They MUST be heard as a group to get the true import of the music. Each idea is quickly explored and then completed, preparing the way for the next one. A few lengthen to several pages and they provide nice breaks in the quickly moving pace. For all the criticism of the performer's rhythmic style one can find no hint of affectation or exaggerated rubato with this set. This recording is perfection.

This will be a very short review of this deleted set - replaced by another version showing an ebullient eldery Rubinstein taking a fling at dancing.Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 50 You can now purchase either of these two Cd sets as included in a greatly reduced 11 Cd Rubinstein set The Chopin Collection [Box Set] For barely much more than this issue you can have all manner of Rubinstein playing Chopin.

Rubinstein recorded three sets of the Chopin Mazurkas, the only pianist to do so. The powerful propulsive rhythms of Rubinstein's first complete set from 1938/39 Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 6 are only rarely encountered in this last version. His second set of the Mazurkas made in the early fifties retain much of the first recordings' fire and passion, with slightly better sound. In this fifties set Rubinstein formulates the compositions' refined internal complexities with more precision than before. It would be a good starting point for anyone wishing to hear Rubinstein in these marvelous creations.

This last set, as reviewed here, comes with the blessing of excellent studio stereo. However, Rubinstein no longer captivates us with excitement and fervor as before, in its place these are as much reflections as performances, much of the youthful ardor of the music gone. The joie de vivre of the cover photo of the newer edition misleads - look closer and you notice it's Rubinstein's partner giving a dip and a flourish while the grand old man stands stiffly holding his pose, smiling at the camera for the publicity shot. Yet these wistful elegaic last looks carry their own genuine integrity - they are music the pianist had played and loved and thought about all these many decades since his youth in the 1890's. As such they make a remarkable testament and should be valued as much for what they suggest as what they declare: like pictures of dancers seen through a winter's window, their sounds and movements distanced, yet their memories returning, creating an extreme poignance.

This is an example of the dangers of rejecting a recording out of hand simply because it is not in stereo - or buying one in stereo in preference to one made before stereo became commonplace.

The Cd edition came with quite good notes, with the purple prose endemic to Chopin writing thankfully confined to quotes from Liszt and others.