Stephanie's Pillowbook

“… the fate of Chopin’s work is egregious because he has survived not as the astonishing revolutionary he really was in all sorts of musical and cultural ways, but as a pianists’ composer, at once effeminate and trivial.”
[Edward Saïd]

Here are my top ten Chopin recordings (all, interestingly enough, historical recordings made more than fifty years ago…):

1) Dinu Lipatti. I could have chosen the fabulous recording the adorable Lipatti made of the b minor Sonata or indeed any one of the short Chopin pieces because I love them all, but it is the Barcarolle which means most to me. Here is playing of exquisite perfection. Natural, affirmative, rich, lucid – Lipatti plays with exactly the right combination of freedom and restraint. Heavenly.

Barcarolle Op.60. (1948)

2) Solomon. Sovereign playing of such distinction and sensitivity, inspired, effortless. With a disciplined sense of the piece’s architecture, Solomon’s performance is simple and serene at the opening, passionate and powerful at the end.

Ballade No.4 Op.52 . (1946)

3) Benno Moiseiwitsch. This is a performance of romantic grandeur. It is also astonishingly nuanced, paying attention to the voicing like no other pianist, bringing out the inner lines (incredibly, so unfashionable these days). The striking climax, when it comes, arrives with magisterial inevitability.

Ballade No.1 Op.23. (1938/39)

4) Alfred Cortot. Cortot’s playing of this beautiful and melancholy work is unbelievably elegant, infinitely subtle, and superbly lyrical. His use of rubato is wonderful, splendidly judged and idiomatic. Is it too much for modern tastes, perhaps? Ah, but the line! – breathtaking.

Waltz Op.34 No.2. (1934)

5) Ignaz Friedman. Has there ever been a performance of such astounding finesse, with such unparalleled control of counterpoint? Friedman demonstrates that Chopin’s music here looks back to Bach and forward to Fauré. Pianists ever since have marvelled at this magical recording.

Nocturne Op.55 No.2. (1937)

6) Sergei Rachmaninov. This is very much a fellow-composer’s re-creation. It is a totally gripping performance, packed with concentrated power and full of risk-taking excitement. In the famous Funeral March Rachmaninov follows Anton Rubinstein’s interpretation which ignores Chopin’s markings to give the impression of a hearse approaching and then receding into the distance.

Sonata in b flat minor Op.35 – Marche funebre. (1930)

7) Percy Grainger. Before I heard any of this eccentric man’s recordings I wondered how he would play Chopin – I couldn’t have imagined that it would be with such magnificent vitality. This is, unsurprisingly, an idiosyncratic and personal reading, yet totally without mannerism and utterly convincing.

Sonata in b minor Op.58 – Allegro maestoso. (1925)

8) Irene Scharrer. This great friend of Myra Hess gave up playing the piano as a profession to concentrate on being a wife and mother. If that suggests her playing was delicate and ladylike nothing could be further from the truth. This Scherzo is muscular and determined, driven by impulsive rhythms but without sacrificing any of the beauty and brilliance of the work.

Scherzo No.2 Op.31. (1932)

9) Vladimir Sofronitsky. Now this is a performance of controlled fury. The demonic intensity of the playing is rather startling in the outer sections – yet in the middle it sings with gorgeous melodicism – before leading to a shattering climax in the coda.

Scherzo No.1 Op.20. (1950?)

10) Noel Mewton-Wood . A highly individual and spontaneous performance, with great variety of tone and originality of expression. Every phrase, it seems, is newly minted and full of freshness. What a shame he committed suicide at such a young age..

Piano Concerto No.1 Op.11 – Allegro maestoso. (1951)

First posted in August 2006