Chopin: 傅聪 Fou Ts'ong

In this year of his sixtieth birthday, how good to have this reminder of Fou Ts'ong's lifelong devotion to Chopin. Only in the Polonaise-fantaisie does he do himself less than justice: such idiosyncratically fitful, shape-damaging rubato is bound to sound mannered after re-hearings on disc. Just once or twice I would have preferred a more poised, Lipatti-like continuity in the Barcarolle too, though here there are many seductive things by way of compensation.

Featuring the Great Chopin Pianists from the past and today, Deutsche Grammophon presents a 28 CD box edition highlighting the riches of its Chopin catalogue, including eight Chopin competition winners and many of the most legendary Chopin artists of all time.

Cheval Fou gave a first whinny as a French rock trio around the frontman and a guitarist named Michel Peteau in 1970. Michel had got pretty impressed by European Rock scene, especially the Who, and strove to make a similar impact by playing guitar, that could be crystallized as an incarnation of Heavy/Psych/Krautrock movement by three talented underground musicians in Paris - Jean Max Peteau (guitar, bass), Stephene Rossini (drums), and Michel (guitar, saxophone). Cheval Fou had recorded some material from 1970 until 1975, that had not released in their active days. Fortunately a short-lived French independent label Legend Music compiled their material and released in 1994 (and this compilation has been reissued and rereleased via Psych Up Melodies in 2011)…

The full title of Étron Fou Leloublan's second album is Les Trois Fous Perdégagnent (Au Pays Des…), which could translate to "The Three Fools Lose'n'win (In the Land Of…)" - granted, it doesn't make more sense in English than in French. On this opus from 1978, Francis Grand picks up the saxophone where Chris Chanet (aka Eulalie Ruynat) had left it. Despite his inventive growls and screams, he simply cannot tame the devastating rhythm section (and madcap creativity) of Ferdinand Richard and Guigou Chenevier. This album is a studio construction, filled with overdubs and intro/outro collages. The group has gained better knowledge of the possibilities offered by a recording studio, but still operates on a shoestring budget…

Almost four hours of music constitutes exceptional value especially when, tucked away among a selection of Mazurkas, is Chopin's early "Variations on a German National Air". Vásáry charms you into wondering why it is so rarely heard.

Batelages is Etron Fou Leloublan's first LP, recorded in late 1976 for the French label Gratte-Ciel. It has all the flaws of a first album: meager sound quality, overlong songs, a group identity still in its infancy. Despite all that, it remains an interesting record for two main reasons. First, it is the only Etron Fou featuring original singer/saxophonist Chris Chanet (aka Eulalie Ruynat). Second, what this group was playing was completely nuts. Ferdinand Richard's bass work had already reached a virtuosic level, enough for him to lead in two cuts. Guigou Chenevier's mad drumming, neurotic, depressive-compulsive - a cross between Magma's Christian Vander and free improv's original madman, Han Bennink - challenged recording engineer Thierry Magal, who poorly captured his dynamics (with the exception of the drums solo "Sololo Brigida," crisp)…

Pianist Alexei Lubimov performs all the works on this new recording on the Pianino / Upright piano Pleyel, 1843, Chopin's Piano. "I wanted to imagine how Classical repertoire could have sounded when interpreted by Chopin and his pupils on a Pleyel pianino in the composer's study-salon in Parisat home, with no audience. The Pleyel pianino dictated the manner of performing works by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, using its magic to transform their works into musical images of Chopin's world. I wanted to imagine, to grasp that hypnotic 'Chopinisation' of the great pre-Chopin composers.

Maria João Pires, widely recognized as one of the most brilliant pianists of the last forty years, celebrates her 20th anniversary as a Deutsche Grammophon exclusive recording artist with this 2-CD release devoted entirely to the works of Chopin, the artist's first new recording in over four years. Pires's affinity for Chopin has always been well-known to both critics and audiences; in fact, her interpretations are so beloved that her 1996 recording of Chopin's Nocturnes remains the best-selling solo piano recording of the past 20 years by a living Deutsche Grammophon artist.

Maria João Pires, widely recognized as one of the most brilliant pianists of the last forty years, celebrates her 20th anniversary as a Deutsche Grammophon exclusive recording artist with this 2-CD release devoted entirely to the works of Chopin, the artist's first new recording in over four years. Pires's affinity for Chopin has always been well-known to both critics and audiences; in fact, her interpretations are so beloved that her 1996 recording of Chopin's Nocturnes remains the best-selling solo piano recording of the past 20 years by a living Deutsche Grammophon artist.