Thread: Having Some Trouble Deciding On Chopin Piano Concerto Recording

I'm having trouble deciding on which Chopin Piano Concertos recording to get. It seem the the latest Krystian Zimerman/Polish Festival Orchestra recording has got the most positive feedback. What do you guys think? I know the Chopin Piano Concertos are some concert workhorses, but I don't even own one recording of them at all.

Thanks to all who can help. As you all know, I normally don't have any problem picking out a recording, but this one has left me perplexed.

Argerich is the one I prefer, though some don't like it. Zimmerman is good too.

Originally Posted by airad2

Argerich is the one I prefer, though some don't like it. Zimmerman is good too.

Which ones? She's recorded two sets of Chopin's Piano Concertos. One on Deutsche Grammophon (Abbado is conducting one recording I forget who conducted the other one) and the other is on EMI with Dutoit/MSO.

I haven't heard the EMI, but you can't go wrong with Argerich on these concerti. So if you want both, grab the EMI because it's more convenient. Ignore the lame hater reviews.

Personally, I am not very qualified because I only have the DG one of the first concerto coupled with the Liszt. It is among my favorite of recordings.

I've also been eyeing the Martha Argerich Collection on DG. It is quite expensive but includes all her signatures (though I have many of them already).

Well I'm a fan of Argerich anyway. She excels pretty much in everything she does, so I'm sure they're good performances.

I think somehow Rubinstein really captures the imperfection of Chopin. He makes the melodies sound so human like.

You can't get just one set of the concertos. Argerich, Askenase, Mewton-Wood, Pogorelich, Arrau, Rubinstein, Hoffman, Freire, Blechacz, Bolet, Gilels.... even that old Lev Oborin recording of the second concerto... all of them are fantastic.

Originally Posted by YsayeOp.27#6

You can't get just one set of the concertos. Argerich, Askenase, Mewton-Wood, Pogorelich, Arrau, Rubinstein, Hoffman, Freire, Blechacz, Bolet, Gilels.... even that old Lev Oborin recording of the second concerto... all of them are fantastic.

I seriously doubt all of them are fantastic. Some of them had to be plagued with mediocre conducting. Sometimes I find the pianist and conductor to be out-of-sync and it really ruins the whole performance for me.

I'm definitely looking at the Zimerman and Argerich sets. Rubinstein I heard was really good too. Thanks for your recommendations everyone.

I don't know if you would like Chopin's piano concertos. They are among the greatest in piano literature, but the orchestral writing is less than brilliant.

Originally Posted by bdelykleon

I don't know if you would like Chopin's piano concertos. They are among the greatest in piano literature, but the orchestral writing is less than brilliant.

Well I heard the orchestration isn't that good, but the same could be said of Liszt's orchestral writing as well, but I like Liszt a lot.

Just because I'm a "Ravelian" doesn't mean that I don't enjoy music that doesn't have as good orchestration.

Originally Posted by Mirror Image

Well I heard the orchestration isn't that good, but the same could be said of Liszt's orchestral writing as well, but I like Liszt a lot.

Just because I'm a "Ravelian" doesn't mean that I don't enjoy music that doesn't have as good orchestration.

It is not only Chopin's lousy orchestration, but that the concerto is mainly a beautiful solo piano piece with orchestral intermezzi, like the concertos before Mozart.

Originally Posted by Mirror Image

I seriously doubt all of them are fantastic. Some of them had to be plagued with mediocre conducting.

That's nothing but prejudice. I'll take that you know nothing about the pianists I listed or the orchestras accompanying them, and that you are not an informed source.

You may find some purpose for weak orchestration.
Maybe the orchestration is a bit less on purpose to create contrast and have the piano exalt.
A good example of this is the violin concerts of Paganini. Extreme simple orchestration in sharp contrast with the over complex violin parts. I love listening to it. I feel that the orchestration is there to fill up the empty spaces. Same with Chopin. Love to listen to the piano parts that takes up some brain processing time. Then have the mind do some freewheeling in the orchestrated pauses when the piano is at a brief rest.
Maybe the simple orchestration (should not call it lousy) is even the key to the success of Chopin and Paganini. While their success is the fact that they still play the pieces on a very regular basis. The doom of a composer is to be forgotten.
I like Rubinstein perform Chopin to stick on the topic.

Originally Posted by YsayeOp.27#6

That's nothing but prejudice. I'll take that you know nothing about the pianists I listed or the orchestras accompanying them, and that you are not an informed source.

There's no way all of them are 100% great, sorry but I seriously doubt it. I'm just being realistic here and telling you that you are wrong, which you are.

Originally Posted by Kuntster

I think somehow Rubinstein really captures the imperfection of Chopin. He makes the melodies sound so human like.

I would not say 'imperfection' but the spirit of Chopin is indeed captured definitively by Artur Rubinstein and a close second by Alexis Weissenberg.