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Deutsche Grammophon's Chopin Masters Edition · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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Thank you. This is Jed Disler, and welcome to
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The Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide
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The Chopin competition in Warsaw has hit its
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stride as this episode drops. And I have to say
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that I did actually record this episode prior
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to my being in Warsaw. I often record Piano Maven
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episodes in advance, but we just had three episodes
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devoted to the Chopin -Mazurka cycles on disc.
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I mean, I don't mean the definite article, the.
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I talked about some Chopin -Mazurka cycles on
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disc, actually quite a bit of them. Anyway, I
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was browsing online just recently, and I saw
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that this box set that was released in 2021 by
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Deutsche Grammophon, is still available, certainly
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as a download and via streaming, although maybe
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the physical box is not so easy to source anymore.
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This is a release that's simply called the Chopin
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Masters Edition. It consists of 28 albums in
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original jacket configurations. Actually, I do
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see now that you can obtain this box in a download
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format or through streaming, and that there are
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some physical copies floating around Amazon and
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on eBay. Actually, it's not all that difficult
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to source. I take back what I said earlier. Now,
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since I had written the booklet notes for this
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box, I could not review it naturally. But I do
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remember that when I got the assignment from
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the label, I made some suggestions for what they
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might include that had been out of print for
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years, such as a live album from the 1960 Warsaw
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Chopin competition with pianist Michel Bloch
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that had only been on LP. I had also suggested
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that long out -of -print disc on Westminster
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featuring the 1955 competition's third prize
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winner, Fu Tsong, playing Chopin Mazurkas. Now,
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that disc eventually did come out in a box set
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from Australian Eloquence. Basically, this box
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contains 28 discs, 28 albums. largely drawn from
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the Deutsche Grammophon Back catalog with 28
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pianists. And there's a lot of repetition of
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repertoire between the pianists, but the interpretations
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are so different that collectors certainly would
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welcome such an opportunity for comparative listening.
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In addition to my booklet notes and full discographical
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information, there... is also a full index of
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works and pianists. So if you want to do spot
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comparisons, you can quickly find out which works
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with which pianists are on which discs. And like
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I said, the discs are packaged in original jacket
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facsimiles, and they are ordered in the box alphabetically
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by pianist. So I'm going to go through all 28
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discs as succinctly. as I can. CD number one
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features the 1959 recording of Geza Anda playing
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the Preludes Op. 28. and the A -flat Polonaise
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Op. 53. These are really outstanding interpretations.
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They're very classically oriented, with clear
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finger work and voice leading, and they are very
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different from the more volatile and impulsive,
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yet vividly detailed. Martha Argerich recordings
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of the Preludes, which occupy CD No. 2. These
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are from 1975. Also on this disc is her 1974
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recording of the Sonata No. 2 in B -flat minor,
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and this is a classic also. And I really like
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her spooky and very liberally peddled finale,
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which sounds like no one else's performance,
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believe me. CD number three. Oh, this is really
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special. This contains live performances of Vladimir
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Ashkenazi at age 18 from the 1955 Warsaw Chopin
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Competition, where he may have... only won second
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prize, yet his playing totally galvanized the
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public and the jury. And you hear in these performances
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that he's already a finished artist. Throughout
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the Chopin F minor concerto, you also get the
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ballade number two, you get a pair of etudes,
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the C major opus 10 number one, and F major opus
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25 number three. We have Masurka is in A -flat,
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Op. 41 No. 3, and Op. 30 No. 4, that's in C -sharp
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minor. These are all splendid and vibrant performances.
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But the prize of this disc is one of the most
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rhythmically poised and tightly structured and
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absolutely scintillating performances I've ever
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heard of the Chopin Scherzo No. 4. It's really
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staggering. It's really on the level of the Vladimir
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Horowitz recording from 78s and that famous Leopold
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Godofsky test pressing. Ashkenazi recorded this
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scherzo several times over for Decca in the studio
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much later in his career, but I don't think he
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ever quite matched his teenage self. I mean,
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this is a phenomenal performance. CD number four
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features Stefan Ashkenaz playing the Chopin waltzes.
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And this is his 1963 stereo recording, not the
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earlier mono version that came out in a box set
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that contained all of this pianist's 1950s Chopin
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recordings. Unfortunately, I find his stereo
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waltzes... really pale next to the mono version.
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And I just find his playing very tired and enervated.
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And he also underplays the two famous Polonaises
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included here, the military Polonaise in A major
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opus 40 number one, and then the opus 53 heroic
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Polonaise that we heard from Geza Anda on CD
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number one. This really is not a strong disc.
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Like I said, Stefan Ashkenaz is much better represented
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in his mono Chopin recordings for Deutsche Grammophon,
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and also his stereo recording of the Krakowiak
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for piano and orchestra. That really should have
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been included in this box. Okay, CD number five.
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We have 13 of the Nocturnes from Daniel Barenboim's
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1981 cycle of the Complete Nocturnes. These are
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very good performances with little rhetorical
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touches here and there. One might call them Claudio
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Arrau light. And it's not the most rapturous
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or poetic nocturne cycle on disc, but the performances,
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I think, are very fine in and of themselves.
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And Bauernbohm is on really excellent technical
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form. I think the recordings that he made in
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the early up to the mid -1980s for Deutsche Grammophon
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probably represent Bauernbohm's strongest piano
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playing and piano interpreting on disc. I'm thinking
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about his first Beethoven cycle for Deutsche
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Grammophon. But anyway, I'm digressing a little
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bit. CD number six. Oh, this is great. This is
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the famous Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Chopin
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disc. We have 10 mazurkas, and I just talked
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about them in our previous podcast episode about
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Chopin mazurka cycles. These are interestingly
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detailed, emotionally aloof performances on the
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whole. And then you get his very sectionalized
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and fragmented performances of the G minor ballade
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and the B flat minor scherzo. But there's a demonic
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undercurrent that exists here that I find fascinating.
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And there's also a wonderful performance of the
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prelude in C sharp minor, the opus 45 prelude.
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Very, very beautiful. CD number seven. Lazar
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Berman playing the standard six Polonaises, which
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are the two opus 26 pieces, the two opus 40 Polonaises,
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the big F sharp minor opus 44, and opus 53. This
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is very forthright and hearty piano playing.
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There isn't a lot of depth or introspective poetry,
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but this is pure, untrammeled virtuosity and
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high drama. And if that's what you want, that's
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what you get from Lazar. Berman's Polonaises.
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I actually enjoy them. CD8 gives us the two Chopin
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concertos with the 2005 Warsaw competition gold
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medalist Rafal Blechacz. And I'm not crazy about
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these performances. I mean, the pianist has a
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strong left hand, and I like how he plays the
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F minor concerto first movements decorative flourishes
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in tempo. But the first concerto's first movement
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just drags and wanders all over the place. But
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you know who really did an excellent pair of
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Chopin concertos for Deutsche Grammophon around
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the same time? That I think are a lot stronger,
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and they also have great accompaniments from
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Zubin Mehta. I'll tell you who. It's actually
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long, long. And his Chopin concertos should have
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been included in this box set. I'm not kidding.
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CD number nine. Now, this is really interesting
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and illuminating. And I talked about this disc
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at the start of the program. When Michel Bloch
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was eliminated during the course of the 1960
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Chopin competition. Jury member Arthur Rubinstein
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got really upset, so he spontaneously created
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his own special Arthur Rubinstein prize to give
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to Michel Bloch. We get live and unedited, yet
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very fluent and very heartfelt performances of
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the B -flat minor sonata, the A -flat polonaise
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again, the prelude in A -flat, opus 28, number
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17. and the A -flat waltz, Op. 34, No. 4, and
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three mazurkas that have real bounce and breadth
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to them. And these are a far cry from the slow,
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sleepwalking mazurkas that Michel Bloch recorded
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in the studio many, many years later. CD number
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10. This is the first all -Chopin studio recording
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that Stanislav Brunin made for Deutsche Grammophon.
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It dates from 1987, and generally it's slick
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and sometimes mannered playing, but it's still
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enjoyable. He plays the four impromptus, the
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three equisais, three of the posthumous waltzes,
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the Polonaise fantasy, and there's some mazurkas.
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And it's good to have this disc back in circulation.
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CD number 11 gives us Shura Tchaikovsky in 1968.
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The standard six Polonaises and the Polonaise
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fantasy. This is the polar opposite of what you
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get from Lazar Berman because you have a lot
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of the idiosyncratic Shura Tchaikovsky rubato.
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You have inner voices all over the place. And
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he plays these pieces more like little tone poems
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than dances. I don't think these should be your
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first -choice Polonaises, but I think the performances
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are interesting and entertaining. I mean, what
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else can you expect from Shura Tchaikovsky, right?
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CD12 features the 2015 Warsaw Gold Medalist Xiangjin
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Cho in live performances from the 2015 competition
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of the B -flat minor sonata, the A -flat polonaise.
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How many A -flat polonaises do we need? But it's
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a very, very good one. The C -minor nocturne,
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opus 48, number one, and the preludes, opus 28.
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These are very polished, urbane, beautifully
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modulated, and very tasteful interpretations.
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And I've liked these performances ever since
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I first heard them about 10 years ago. Now, had
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Deutsche Grammophon included instead his recording
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of the four scherzos, that really would have
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been memorable. But I think the scherzos came
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out after this box set was produced. Probably
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so. Anyway, I can't keep all these discographies
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in my head. Still, it's really good to have this
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young Jin Cho. Warsaw debut disc in the collection.
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It's a good thing to have. CD 13. Oh, this is
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a real collector's item from a great, and I think
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a very underappreciated pianist from an older
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generation, Halina Cherny -Stefanska. And this
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is a 1956 studio recording with six mazurkas,
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the first and fourth ballads. and the Andante
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Spinato in Gran Polonaise. This is lyrical, poetic,
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and sensitively nuanced playing. You're not going
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to find the most scintillating first and fourth
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ballade codas here, but her internalized sense
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of rhythm and her idiomatic feeling for the music
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cannot be denied. I talked about her mazurka
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cycle. for the Canyon Classics label on my Mazurka
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Cycle episode. And you also might remember that
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her recording of the Chopin First Concerto was
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once issued by EMI, but credited to Dinu Lepati.
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It was touted as a previously unpublished Lepati
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recording, and it got rave reviews, of course.
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it was discovered to actually be the Helena Czerny
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-Stefanska super fun recording instead. And then
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once they discovered it was Czerny -Stefanska,
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nobody cared anymore. Actually, a legitimate
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La Potti performance did turn up eventually,
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but that's another story for another podcast.
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CD 14 is Christoph Eschenbach playing the Chopin
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Preludes from 1971. I've never really warmed
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to this recording. I find that there's too much
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editorializing and self -conscious expressive
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point making. He's trying too hard to be a Chopin
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stylist, and it all comes off sounding quite
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mannered. I'm not really convinced, to be honest.
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Other people may like this performance more than
16:40
me. CD number 15 features Emil Gielels in his
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1978 studio recording of the B minor sonata.
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It features a very deliberate first movement.
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And you really get a sense of his time -stopping
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sense of how to project and sustain slow music.
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And you hear this in the Largo. It just really
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grips your attention. Also on this disc are the
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two Opus 40 Polonaises and the A -flat Polonais.
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Surprise, surprise. I think these performances
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are a little stolid. The concentration and the
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feeling of centeredness. in the pianism really
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does hold your attention, but they are not my
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favorite Polonais performances. CD 16 offers
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live performances from 1955 in Warsaw by that
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year's gold medalist, Adam Horowasić, and his
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solidity and his security and his genuine feeling
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for Chopin's idiom. comes across through a variety
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of works, including Three Mazurkas, the B major
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Nocturne Op. 62 No. 1, the G minor Ballade, the
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A -flat Polonaise, oh my goodness, here it is
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again, and the G -flat Major Impromptu. And there's
18:09
a beautiful performance here of the C -sharp
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minor Prelude Op. 45, and we also have the Winter
18:16
Wind Etude and the Double Thirds. etude, both
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from Opus 25. And as you listen to these performances,
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you can understand why he was declared the gold
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medalist. CD number 17. This is something really,
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really special. One doesn't often hear about
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the Hungarian -German pianist Julian von Karolyi,
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who lived from 1914 until 1993. and younger piano
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fans may not even know who he is, but I really
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enjoy these recordings that are offered on this
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disc. We get a 1964 Chopin recital that features
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as fleet and supple an Andante Spinato and Grand
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Polonaise as they come, and his amazingly fluent
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and lithe double notes and seamless trills are
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just thrilling to hear. I also like this pianist's
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Chopin B minor sonata. He takes a real breakneck
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tempo for the scherzer's outer sections. That's
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so much fun to hear. And he really brings it
19:25
off. And Von Caroli also plays the bolero with
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great flair and dazzling facility. gorgeous melodic
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projection he brings to the A minor mazurka,
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opus 17, number 4. This is on the level of Horowitz
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and Paderewski, honestly. Oh, and Gregory Ginsberg,
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who also did that mazurka beautifully. What's
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also interesting about this performance is how
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Caroli plays a lot of the decorative passages
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in tempo. And also on this disc from 1952, we
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have Julian von Caroli's four ballads. You know,
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these are not the deepest performances around,
20:08
but there's a lot of color, and I love the capricious
20:12
interpretive touches. It's almost the polar opposite
20:16
of the painstakingly detailed and thought -out
20:20
Christian Zimmerman, which is at the opposite
20:23
end of the spectrum, and we're going to be talking
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about him in a few moments. CD 18 gives us the
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pianist Yundi, who I call the artist formerly
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known as Yundi Li. We have his Deutsche Grammophon
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debut disc, which was an all Chopin recital.
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You might remember that in 2000, Yundi became
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the youngest first prize winner ever of the Warsaw
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competition. I'm not sure if that record was
20:52
since surpassed. I don't keep track of such statistics.
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But in my review of this disc for Classicstoday
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.com when it first came out in 2001, I wrote
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this, and I quote, Listening to Yundi's Chopin
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for the first time is not unlike having a blind
21:12
date with a gorgeous partner who smiles at the
21:16
right times, always laughs at your jokes, and
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never disagrees with you nor tells you things
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you don't already know. And like Julian von Caroli
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on the previous disc, here you get the Andante
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Spinato in grand polonaise and the B minor sonata.
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And these, Yundi, serves up to perfection, superficially
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so. And you can say the same about three etudes
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and the opus nine nocturnes, number one and two.
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These are very pretty, but they're... Kind of
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bland, but he does shape the F -sharp Nocturne
21:54
Op. 15 No. 2 to perfection. You know, I wish
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they would have included Yondi's four Chopin
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scherzos, because these are among the best things
22:04
that he ever did. Oh well. CD 19 features some
22:11
really mature and cultivated, yet very spontaneous
22:15
Chopin playing. we get Maria João Pires in the
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Nocturnes, Opus 9, Numbers 1 and 2. And if you
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compare these to Yundi, it's really like a night
22:28
and day. She just wins hands down. And she also
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plays the F -sharp Nocturne I talked about before
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and the D -flat Nocturne, Opus 27, Number 2.
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All of these are gorgeous. Also on this disc,
22:43
is a recording of the Piano Concerto No. 1, and
22:47
Andre Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
22:50
give splendid support. And this performance received
22:54
its first release in this collection, and she
22:58
had already recorded the second concerto with
23:00
Previn, which is also excellent. But this first
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concerto, having it released for the first time,
23:08
was quite welcome when this collection came out.
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Okay, we are moving along and arriving at CD
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20 and a 1996 Chopin recital by Mikhail Pletnev.
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If you want to hear the black key and double
23:26
thirds etudes resemble Olympic stunts executed
23:31
to the highest standards, look no further than
23:34
these performances. But then this pianist tortures
23:39
the lyrical C sharp minor etude to death, and
23:42
he moons over every phrase, and he makes Liberace
23:47
sound like Arthur Rubinstein. It's just so tawdry.
23:51
And Pletneff's B minor sonata in this recording
23:55
is so pulled about and impossibly mannered. Although,
24:01
for some reason, his transgressions work better
24:04
in the F minor fantasy, but this B minor sonata
24:08
just makes me feel dirty all over. CD 21 is the
24:14
Studio Deutsche Grammophon debut disc from Ivo
24:17
Pogorelich. that included the Sonata No. 2, the
24:22
Prelude in C -sharp minor, Op. 45, the Third
24:25
Scherzo, the E -flat Nocturne, Op. 55 No. 2,
24:29
and three Etudes. And like Pletneff, Pokorowicz
24:34
is willful beyond belief, but there seems to
24:37
be a little more method to his madness, shall
24:41
we say. CD 22, we have Maurizio Pollini's Chopin
24:46
Etudes. I know that some people find these performances
24:50
to be cold and impersonal, but I don't. I think
24:55
these performances have a sheen and a classical
24:58
orientation that really commands respect. And
25:02
there's so much more color and nuance to the
25:05
performances than Pollini is giving credit for.
25:08
And you really can hear why these etudes represented
25:12
a kind of gold standard at the time of their
25:16
release in the early 1970s. These are performances
25:19
not to be underestimated. However, Some listeners
25:24
may find the comparable technical brilliance
25:28
of Ruth Slenzinska's 1956 etudes for American
25:35
Decca to be more immediately communicative. And
25:39
it's good that her etudes cycle was included
25:44
in this box set on CD number 23. These are...
25:49
Absolutely world -class performances, full of
25:52
individual touches. And I talked about her etude
25:55
cycle on last year's podcast episode that I did
25:59
about Chopin etude cycles. CD number 24 is the
26:04
Deutsche Grammophon solo debut disc of Dang Tai
26:08
San. who was the 1980 Chopin competition winner.
26:13
And this was the same competition where Ivo Pogorelich
26:16
did not make it to the finals, and jury member
26:19
Marta Argerich walked out in protest. This is
26:23
a mixed recital with a few nocturnes, the A minor
26:26
waltz, the Andante Spignato and Grand Polonaise,
26:30
two mazurkas, the second ballade, and the second
26:33
scherzo. And what can I say? This is very fine,
26:38
very proficient, thoroughly professional Chopin
26:41
playing, and totally enjoyable. CD number 25
26:46
features Roberto Zidane's recording of the four
26:51
scherzos and the four impromptus. The scherzos
26:54
are sharp -edged and brilliant. often harsh and
26:59
kind of wiry. I'm happy to have these performances
27:02
in my collection, so when I want to hear the
27:04
Chopin scherzos as if they had been composed
27:07
by Prokofiev or Bartok, I go to this recording.
27:11
We're getting close to the end, folks, and on
27:15
CD 26. We have a release that I take credit for
27:20
suggesting to the producers. This was a 1961
27:24
release on Westminster with Food Song playing
27:28
18 mazurkas. He won the special mazurka prize
27:33
in the 1955 Warsaw competition, and his natural
27:38
feeling for the idiom speaks for... itself. And
27:41
lovely performances of the posthumous A -flat
27:45
and the C -sharp minor opus 45 preludes fill
27:49
out the disc. And also the berceuses here, too,
27:52
very beautifully played. CD 26 features Thomas
27:57
Vassari in the waltzes. This is very solid and
28:01
sensitive playing. And it also includes four
28:05
mazurkas, plus the rarely heard introduction
28:09
and variations on the song Der Schweizerbüub.
28:15
Did I pronounce that right? Der Schweizerbüub.
28:18
And there's a very good A -flat polonaise yet
28:22
again in this piece, but this is a really, really
28:24
good performance. I think Thomas Vachery's Chopin
28:29
recordings tend to be underrated, and I wish
28:32
that Deutsche Grammophon would put out a box
28:34
set of his complete recordings for that label.
28:37
Maybe Australian eloquence can do that. I really
28:41
would like to see that. And lastly, on CD 28,
28:46
Christian Zimmerman takes the four ballads, and
28:51
he seems to go over each and every phrase, every
28:54
inner voice, every chord balance, and every pedal
28:58
indication with a fine -tooth comb. However,
29:01
such fastidious microscopic detailing never sacrifices
29:06
Chopin's bigger narrative picture, nor the music's
29:11
rhythmic momentum. And I really respect these
29:14
performances. I can't say that I warm to them
29:18
a lot, but I respect the workmanship and the
29:21
finish and the seriousness of purpose that Zimmermann
29:25
brings to this music. But these qualities, for
29:29
me, I think, don't work so well in his recording
29:33
of the F minor fantasy. And also in his bark
29:37
roll, kind of gets stuck in the mud as if the
29:40
gondolier had dropped anchor and had no intention
29:44
on sailing forth. But I know that others respond
29:48
more positively to... Zimmerman's fantasy and
29:52
his barker role than I do. So try to listen to
29:55
this disc for yourself. You really do have to
29:58
respect the workmanship and seriousness, as I
30:00
said. So you can hear why Zimmerman represents
30:03
a kind of gold standard for this repertoire,
30:07
very much in the way that Polini does in the
30:10
etudes. So there we have it. the Chopin Master's
30:15
Edition on Deutsche Grammophon, 28 pianists on
30:19
28 discs. After going through this collection,
30:23
all I can say is that... I am just amazed at
30:27
how Chopin's music invites as well as allows
30:31
for so many divergent and even contradictory
30:36
interpretations. And if you are a Chopin lover
30:39
and you want to explore this vast wealth of style
30:45
in Chopin's music, definitely check out this
30:49
box set. This is Jed Disler, and you've been
30:52
listening to The Piano Maven, your friendly podcast
30:55
guide to piano recordings. Thank you for tuning
30:58
in, and I look forward to being with you for
31:01
our next episode.