[Vahe Sahakian]

For the finest performances of Nocturnes I would recommend Maria Joao Peres, you can sample her performances on UTube, try #13, #15 and #20

 

[GrosseFugue]

I recently purchased the Moravec on Supraphon, remastered in 2012. Wow! I can hear what all the fuss has been about. Just fantastic. I've heard him described as having the true "legato" touch. But he can also summon great power as well. In the interview in the booklet Moravec mentions Chopin possessing a "Beethovenian solidity" -- yeah, he definitely brings that out.

 

[SONDEKNZ]

After many years of listening ONLY to RUBENSTEIN's famous stereo RCA account of Chopin's Nocturnes, I slowly discovered a few more readings that I enjoyed also.

DANG THAI SON
MARIA JOAO PIRES

...and then I stumbled upon what has slowly become my all-time favourite.

NIKITA MAGALOFF

I am so surprised that nobody else has mentioned MAGALOFF.

Am I alone in my admiration of his unique insights into the Nocturnes?

 

[Ulalume!Ulalume!]

I've been listening to a lot of Chopin recently, here are some performers of the Nocturnes not mentioned in the thread yet:


Moriz Rosenthal
Cyril Smith
Dinu Lipatti
Raoul Koczalski
Benno Moiseiwitsch
Ignaz Jan Paderewski

I'm also quite fond of a few transcriptions, e.g.

Primrose does Op. 9, No. 2
Casals does Op. 9, No. 2
Bustabo does Op. 27, No. 2
Benedetti does Op. 27, No. 2

 

[PathfinderCS]

Ashkenazy finally broke the ice for me. Really getting into the Nocturnes. Gotta try some other performances now!

 

[Pat Fairlea]

I love Chopin's Nocturnes and hear something new in them almost every time I listen.

Performances? Engerer for melodic charm, Arrau for seeking out the depths, Pollini for a delicate balance between the two.

PS - and Pires for a certain elegance!

 

[joen_cph]

I don't know of any association with Cortot but Vitalij Margulis certainly deserves to be much more widely known. He was born in Chakrov (Ukraine) in 1928 and studied first with his father and then at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Samarij Sawshinskij, where he also became a piano teacher in 1958. In 1974 he immigrated to Germany and was professor at Freiburg Musikhochschule until 1994, when he moved to Los Angeles as piano professor at the California University, until he died in 2011. He left us a few memorable recordings (particularly with Chopin, Scriabin, Bach and Beethoven) that can easily testify his musical genius. I believe you just need to try Chopin's op. 48 no.1 or the opening of the sonata no.2 to recognize Vitalij Margulis as one of the greatest interpreters of all time.

Holy moly. I didn't know this pianist, but have just acquired a Scriabin album, and it's surely very interesting, passionate and original. His recordings appear mostly on obscure ultra-budget labels these days.

JPC has a 'memorial' CD series at full price

https://www.jpc.de/s/vitalij+margulis

Even the Discogs website info is almost zero. Strange that he wasn't promoted more in Germany or the West.
I'll be looking for more of his recordings from now on.

 

[Mandryka]

See what you make of his op 10/2 -- not like anyone else!

The Scriabin sonata is pretty good I think -- in a Rach sort of way. Possibly my favourite recording of it.


@joen_cph

 

[joen_cph]

See what you make of his op 10/2 -- not like anyone else!

The Scriabin sonata is pretty good I think -- in a Rach sort of way. Possibly my favourite recording of it.


@joen_cph

The bass line in that Chopin etude recording is very articulated and melodical, and I came to think of Eastern-Europe-or-Russia-folksy-inspired, later piano music when hearing it, including works by Tchaikovsky. Of course, he slows down the music a bit, but it's OK.

I mean, like

A sad thing, what happened to Russia, but that's another story.

 

[pianozach]

Chopin's Nocturnes have been some of the most beloved and popular works in the piano's repertoire. At the moment, they are on the 11th tier of the the Talk Classical community's favorite and most highly recommended works.

Wikipedia's article about them has a little information--just enough to serve as a listening guide. The best source for recording recommendations is probably Trout's blog post on this work:



Here is another TC thread exclusively dedicated to recommending recordings of the Nocturnes.

Anyway, the main questions are: Do you like these works? What do you like about them? Do you have any reservations about them?

And of course, what are your favorite recordings?

I love sitting down at the piano and actually PLAYING them.

 

[Mandryka]

What exactly is a nocturne? Is it a genre? Here's a nocturne by Sciarrino

 

[hammeredklavier]

Today, this showed up in my youtube recommendations and I listened to it:

Organist Jonathan Scott performs his solo organ arrangement of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Nocturne in C Sharp Minor Op. Posth No. 20 (originally for piano solo) on the newly rebuilt Zych pipe organ of All Saints Church, Warsaw, Poland.

 

[SONDEKNZ]

After many years of listening ONLY to RUBENSTEIN's famous stereo RCA account of Chopin's Nocturnes, I slowly discovered a few more readings that I enjoyed also.

DANG THAI SON
MARIA JOAO PIRES

...and then I stumbled upon what has slowly become my all-time favourite.

NIKITA MAGALOFF

I am so surprised that nobody else has mentioned MAGALOFF.

Am I alone in my admiration of his unique insights into the Nocturnes?

After more than one year, it seems I am still alone in enjoying this interpretation... 😊

 

[mparta]

After more than one year, it seems I am still alone in enjoying this interpretation... 😊

If you like it you don't really need company

Honestly, it's a bit square and forceful for my taste but these pieces are big enough for a world of interpretation

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion-- henry david Thoreau

 

[mparta]

Sort of lost my taste for big sets, but....

The C# minor nocturne on this...



Should be heard, and then it's hard to believe. Not all of his Chopin is completely convincing (the Mazurkas) but this is one of the greatest performances of a Nocturne I've heard.

 

[Jokke]

Maria João Pires - Chopin: The Nocturnes

I've always loved the performance by Maria Joao Pires.

 

[golfer72]

What exactly is a nocturne? Is it a genre? Here's a nocturne by Sciarrino

I believe a nocturne is supposed to be a quieter slower , peaceful piece meant for night time or relaxation. Comes from the word "nocturnal ?

 

[Captainnumber36]

I prefer these on guitar.

 

[joen_cph]

I believe a nocturne is supposed to be a quieter slower , peaceful piece meant for night time or relaxation. Comes from the word "nocturnal ?

I think it's more complicated than that. Late 18th and 19th century writers and painters liked to induce night motifs with sinister omens, drama, melancholy and existential torment, besides that of amourous adventures. You'll also find inquietude and abysses in Chopin's Nocturnes, for example. Field's music generally belongs to a more conservative, classicist and idyll-seeking era, but he did experiment a bit with more drama (like naming a piano concerto of his 'Fire Caused by Lightning').

Examples:
Novalis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymns_to_the_Night
Friedrich: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Men_Contemplating_the_Moon
Füssli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightmare
Catel/Chateaubriand, circa 1820 Night Scene, the Concluding Scene in Chateaubriand's "René", B111 - Thorvaldsens Museums Catalogue

Obviously, there's a lot more, well-known material from mid- and late 19th century onwards.