Pollini Plays Chopin, Opp. 33-36 & 38

Maurizio Pollini (Artist), Chopin (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Chopin
• Audio CD (October 14, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B001EZ6HL6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,686 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Maurizio Pollini is both a virtuoso and a thinking man's Chopin pianist. He never goes for the pretty or easy: he gets into Chopin's notes and tells us what they are. There are no frills – and he doesn't really "interpret."  If there is, arguably, a decaying elegance or sadness in some of the waltzes (opus 34), Pollini is not interested. But listen to the well-known A flat and feel the thrill of movement itself, with every note impeccably in place and the line of the music unbroken by plugged-in temperament. The Impromptu, op. 36 is played with a sweetness throughout that few can beat and he takes his time, lingering over the filigree. The Ballade, op. 38, gets a perfect performance, with the opening theme as sweet as can be and the maniacal second subject utterly ferocious; Pollini’s hands can terrify. The sonata, op. 35 is the CD's grandest and longest piece and contains the famous “Funeral March” third movement. Pollini plays the 1st movement quickly for later contrast; he practically sings the second movement, and plays the March-like lead, though, without stretching it to unnecessary length (Michelangeli takes two minutes longer). He rips through the final movement – an equivalent of a waterfall of notes – in a minute and a half – and stuns the listener. This CD is a thrill. -- Robert Levine

Product Description

Maurizio Pollini, one of today's most exceptional pianists, began his musical career by winning the Chopin competition in 1960. Since then, the works of Chopin have held a pre-eminent place in his performances and recordings. Following up on the success of his release of Chopin Nocturnes in 2005, Pollini now records an all-new recital of Chopin masterpieces. He has re-recorded the famous Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor, op. 35 (recorded in 1984 and released in 1986) and the Ballade no. 2 in F, op. 38 (recorded and released in 1999) and added the Mazurkas op. 33, Waltzes op. 34 and Impromptu no. 2 in F sharp major, op. 36. All of these works were composed in a relatively late phase of Chopin's career and display the great variety of his art. With Pollini recording Chopin, one of classical music's most popular composers, this release will appeal to both classical music lovers and a wider audience.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Recital of Chopin Masterworks Courtesy of Maurizio Pollini, April 24, 2009

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John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pollini Plays Chopin, Opp. 33-36 & 38 (Audio CD)

Virtually all of the pieces performed by acclaimed pianist Maurizio Pollini in his latest Deutsche Grammophon Chopin disk, "Pollini Chopin Opp. 33 - 36, 38", were composed in the years of 1837 to 1839, often regarded as the "middle period" of "Chopin's maturity". Without question, this fine CD is a worthy successor to Pollini's critically acclaimed recording of Chopin's Nocturnes. If nothing else, these pieces, ranging from mazurkas and waltzes to Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 (most memorable to many for its popular third "Funeral March" movement), demonstrate both the great range of Chopin's artistic genius and its sympathetic playing by our foremost living Chopin interpreter. I am familiar with other, equally valid, interpretations of this piano sonata, including, for example, Martha Argerich's classic Deutsche Grammophon recording, but Pollini's seems rather special in its own right, combining both his scholarly musicological interest in taking a fresh look at the score - as noted in this disk's liner notes - with his subtle, refined, and quite often, lyrical interpretation. Indeed, it is reasonable to say that his playing, while often intense, seems novel for each piece, revisiting each as though these were newly composed works performed for the first time. Sudden changes in tempi and sound (e. g. a rapid fortissimo) burst forth naturally, almost effortlessly, in Pollini's hands, without sounding excessively dramatic. While this new recording may be most noteworthy for the wonderful interpretation of Chopin's B flat minor piano sonata, other highlights include Pollini's insightful playing of the Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 37 and four mazurkas Op. 33. Without a doubt, this is one of the best recent Chopin recordings I have come across, and one that reaffirms Pollini's life-long commitment to Chopin's music, which started, in breathtaking fashion, back in 1960, as the winner of the Warsaw Competition.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Up and Down with Pollini, April 3, 2010

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Richard Steiger (Murray, KY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pollini Plays Chopin, Opp. 33-36 & 38 (Audio CD)

As time passes I become more and more fond of Pollini's direct, unfussy performances. But not everything suits his particular approach. The idea of recording a recital based on opus numbers is a good one, producing a varied recital of masterpieces. But some of this music just doesn't suit Pollini. He plays the mazurkas as pretty little piano pieces, which they are. But they're also dances, and there's very little of the dance (let alone the mazurka) in Pollini's performances. The op 34 waltzes are even further out of his range, the first being rushed and joyless and the second perfunctory. The impromptu is quite well done, though. The larger works on the program are superb, Pollini at his considerable best. Pollini downplays the schizoid nature of the Second Ballade. The opening is hardly the lullaby one hears in other performances. I believe his approach creates a more integrated, cohesive ballade than usual. The sonata is the highlight of the disc. The first movement builds steadily to a crushing conclusion. Incidentally, Pollini does something odd in this movement. He plays the repeat in the first movement (as every pianist seems to do these days), but begins it at the very beginning of the movement, at the "Grave" marking (much as Serkin and a few others begin the first movement repeat of Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata at the same place). I found it very effective. The Funeral March is appropriately grim (Pollini is one of the few pianists in my experience who can avoid making the bass sound like "Bydlo" in Pictures at an Exhibition), the trio delivered without a trace of the sickly sentimentality we often hear. The finale, the "gossip after the funeral," is remarkably well-defined. So, a few dances aside, this is a distinguished recital. The sound itself is very good, though I have to report some odd sniffling throughout the sonata. Did the ghost of Claudio Arrau sneak into the studio?

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pollini's playing and temperament are magisterial, so why isn't his Chopin fresh anymore?, October 28, 2008

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pollini Plays Chopin, Opp. 33-36 & 38 (Audio CD)

Since I'm heartily sick of arguing over whether Pollini is clinical, cold, and aloof, I'll address this review to converts. The works at hand are relatively late in Chopin's career, all composed between 1834 and 1839. The two major works are return engagements for Pollini, since he recorded the "Funeral March" Sonata in 1984 and Ballade #2 in 1999. When an eminent musician comes back to familiar works he has played almost continuously for forty years, something intriguing is in the offing.

Or so I supposed. The Ballade begins with a poker face and little flavor or nuance -- it strikes me, almost for the first time in Pollini's Chopin, as aloof. It took a while to adjust to the change in his manner. He describes it in an interview as becoming more free than he was as a young pianist, and that should be good -- freedom of expression marks the greatest interpreters. Sadly, I hear something else, a certain boredom or over-familiarity that has made Pollini almost perfunctory. The Op. 33 Mazurkas are difficult to bring off, being so inward and enigmatic. The mood is always in half-tints, sometimes gray. Wan, meandering melodies are supported with off-kilter accompaniments. Pollini's solution is to play these pieces straight, with small, marginal shades of rubato. Why?

I kept myself sustained by the excitement generated in the middle of the Ballade, a focused explosion of the kind only Pollini can do, but by the time we get to the three Waltzes Op. 34, the first and third brilliantly splashy, the second melancholy and dreaming, I was growing impatient with Pollini's own impatience. The first waltz is tossed off with panache and authority, but the second proceeds without any underlying emotion.

Which left only the Sonata in B flat minor, its familiar opening jigged around by a new edition that throws the first two bars off balance. Given how erratic Pollini now is in applying rubato, I don't see how one can compare this 2008 performance with the earlier recording except to shake one's head. You have to love Pollini, perhaps, to feel as disconcerted as I am. By any conventional standard his playing and temperament are still magisterial. He rises to some passion in stretches of the sonata but strides blankly through the funeral march as if it was his duty to follow the casket of a stranger. He has always played the fleeting finale like a haunted Debussy etude, and it's wonderful here, perhaps the only thing better than the first go round.

I make trips especially to hear Pollini in concert and own his entire recorded output. This is one of the rare CDs he's released in the past three decades that I regretfully must turn away from.

P.S. -- In all fairness I should report that the Gramophone reviewer thought this was an immortal recording. Later listening has reconciled me to liking more than I did at first.