Moravec Schumann

…Jan Panenka makes an honest reading of Schumann Op conferring it of serene poise and distinguished phrasing. Ancerl underlines magnificently the orchestral details to make at least a listenable version. But the jewel of the crown was the radiant and original reading of this battlehorse piece so many listened. Gilels' approach is very attractive, progressively he gets to imbue us around this Russian taste implicit in Tchaikovsky's first Symphony better known as "Winter dreams" . The Second Movement (in the 5:23) Ancerl makes a memorable rubato that really engaged me. Additionally, Gilels with his notable trills, provides the dreamlike atmosphere so typical from Tchaikovsky's ballets. The Final movement is lively and remarkably exciting.

There is no shortage of the coupling of Grieg & Schumann's piano concertos, and this one surely is among the very best, along with Lipatti, Fleisher and Moravec. Kovacevich's Grieg is regarded by many as the best ever, though I have to give the nod to Lipatti/Galliera. The Schumann is equally compelling and ranks up there with those of Rubinstein/Leinsdorf, Lipatti/Karajan, Gieseking/Furtwangler, Fleisher/Szell and Argerich/Harnoncourt. So you have two top tier concertos on one disc which should be in every classical music library. Plus the sound on this one is better than any of the other above mentioned.

The box set comprised 100 volumes featuring 72 pianists of the 20th century, each volume with two CDs and a booklet about the life and work of the featured pianist. The set contains a variety of composers from different eras, from Baroque to Contemporary classical.

Pollini's traversal of Chopin's 19 Nocturnes (he leaves out the pair of posthumous ones) is one of his finest recordings in years. His long-lined yet detailed performances are comparable to the very different ones that have long stood at the pinnacle of recorded sets. Not as serene as Artur Rubinstein's, not as philosophical as Claudio Arrau's, nor as warm as Ivan Moravec's, Pollini's interpretations have their own allure. One is the way he shapes the melodies with a natural flow enhanced by his tonal beauty, less lean and streamlined than his usual way with Romantic music.

The first part of this recording (and the first playing I had heard Andsnes do) that I heard was the third sonata, a piece that has had a lot of recordings by the great pianists through the years. What struck me were two things: a sense of spaciousness, letting the music and the phrases "breathe", and, along with that, a sense of proportion. Andsnes, here and in other recordings I have heard of his, has the guts to _not_ show off, (although, clearly, he has the fingers to do so) but, more than any other Chopin pianist I have ever heard (with the exception of Moravec), somehow illuminates Chopin's phrasing in the most natural way.