FREDERIC CHOPIN PIANO WORKS

FREDERIC CHOPIN
PIANO WORKS
Fantasie Impromptu – Scherzi – Nocturnes
Elisabeth Leonskaja – Piano
MDG Gold/ SACD 943 1558-6

The Georgian-born pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja is by now already a living legend as a formidable pianist, soloist and accompanist. She has a fearsome technique that she never flaunts and she never stoops to flashy bombast - she is a serious musician with enormous experience. This recital has an interesting compilation and it’s nice to have the four scherzos together on the same disc but interspersed with Nocturnes and the Fantasie-Impromptu. An added bonus is that this recital was recorded on a rare 1901 Steinway model D with a very special mellow tone.

Personally, I believe the four scherzos (composed between 1831 and 1843) are possibly his greatest compositions in a form that hardly existed before Chopin. In the first two Scherzos one feels that there aught be more singing and a greater sense of yearning – everything in Chopin is about singing and telling a story. In the E major and B flat major Scherzos there is more involvement from Leonskaja’s side with a lot more light and shade and they really go straight to the heart.

It is in the Nocturnes that the performer must have an intimate knowledge of Chopin’s art of classic rubato and Leonskaja’s ornamentation glitters and sparkles. The tonal subtleties demand complete independence of the hands, here you have a real artist at work, the C sharp minor Nocturne is an excellent example.

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FREDERIC CHOPIN PIANO WORKS

Classic Breakfast