Chopin Piano Concertos

It was an eminently sensible decision to couple Zimerman's previously separate Chopin concertos on a single CD. The Ax/Ormandy/RCA disc is the only rival as a coupling, so let me say at once that in different moods I would be equally happy with either. The main difference, I think, is the actual sound. From DG we get a closer, riper sonority, with Zimerman's piano much more forwardly placed. Both orchestra and piano are more distanced on the RCA recording, especially Ax's piano. This, together with Ax's lighter, more translucent semiquaver figuration (and sometimes his greater willingness to stand back and merely accompany—as in certain episodes in the F minor Concerto's finale) often conjures up visions of Chopin himself at the keyboard, and we know he was often criticized for insufficiently strong projection.

I suppose if I had to choose a single recording coupling both of Chopin's concertos, it would be this one. Perahia is a sensitive, extremely persuasive artist who understands his own particular gifts better than anyone. He's not a muscle-bound virtuoso by any means–neither was Chopin, for that matter. All of Perahia's interpretations are finely graded, carefully prepared, and sensitive to the music's every nuance, but they never sound stiff or studied.

For years, Margarita Höhenrieder was searching for the authentic sound of Frédéric Chopin's piano works. Which instrument of its time most convincingly reflected Chopin's music? Chopin himself had given the answer in 1831: "Pleyel's instruments are the non plus ultra"!

Noel Mewton-Wood’s (1922-53) journey from underestimated virtuoso to present-day icon is cause for both celebration and irony. Glowing testimonials to his ‘genius’ (Sir Malcolm Sargent) from Myra Hess, Beecham, Schnabel, Bliss, Hindemith and Britten were countered by indifference from the major record labels and concert managements, a situation that doubtless contributed to his suicide at the age of 31. Behind an ebullient surface, Mewton-Wood was a romantic idealist, susceptible to depression and mood-swings. So it is hardly surprising to find the dichotomy reflected in performances which alternate a luminous poetic delicacy with a rare energy and bravura. [[i]Bryce Morrison, Gramophone, November 2003

British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor presents a new recording of two concerto favourites: Chopin’s Piano Concertos Nos.1 and 2, released on 21st February 2020 on Decca Classics. Recorded with Elim Chan and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), the record marks Benjamin’s fifth album on Decca Classics, following the hugely successful Homages in 2016, and is his first orchestral album since 2012.

The newest release presents the Piano Concerti op. 21 and op. 11, performed by a laureate of the 9th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition – Dina Yoffe. The pianist plays the following pianos: an 1848 Pleyel (Piano Concerto in F minor op. 21) and an 1838 Erard (Piano Concerto op. 11).

Frédéric Chopin - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Martha Argerich
Classical, Romantic | 1 CD | EAC | FLAC, CUE, LOG | Scans | 292 MB | RS
Recorded: 10/1998, L'Église de St Eustache, Montréal
Released: 1999 | Label: EMI 7243 5 56798 2 6 | TT: 69:04
Martha Argerich - piano, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal - Charles Dutoit

Martha Argerich has few peers in this repertoire today, and in terms of sheer spontaneity in performance she's simply in a class of her own. (David Hurwitz, classicstoday.com)