Chopin
is best loved for his solo piano music however there have
always been question marks over the orchestration in his
concertos.
In
the first concerto, which was in fact the second to be composed,
both soloist and orchestra deliver a first rate performance.
My only concern is that I kept on being reminded of Rachmaninov.
As this work was composed c.1830, it should not really be
treated as an early 20th century piece. Nevertheless,
the slow movement is one of the most moving in the piano
concerto repertoire and was written by Chopin after a timorously
undeclared passion for a young Polish soprano. It is played
with real sympathy and feeling, quite marvellous, and does
not overdo the sentimentality. The finale is witty and jaunty
though it lacks the amount of fun captured in other versions.
Chopin’s
second concerto is lighter and more piano dominated. Here
the soloist Kun-Woo Paik sounds happier and more involved
than in the first concerto. My standard for this piece would
be that performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy from over thirty
years ago; Kun-Woo Paik matches that performance. Excellent.
The
other less often played/known pieces on this disc are given
equally polished performances. In the “Grande Polonaise” I
was particularly impressed with the soloist’s interpretation
and his playing of the more introspective parts. Chopin came
to fame with the relatively unknown masterpiece Variations
on Mozart’s duet “La Ci Darem La Mano” from Don Giovanni.
If you are unfamiliar with this piece you will find Kun-Woo
Paik is simply splendid. I really enjoyed this performance
and will certainly return to it first among these well filled
discs.
This
set appears to have been recorded nearly three years ago
and brings together the popular and the rare. Despite the
earlier noted reservation, this is generally a very good
selection and performance of ‘orchestral’ Chopin. Perhaps
if it had been given a well deserved release some years earlier,
the pianist might look a little less depressed on the cover!
David R Dunsmore
BUY NOW
AmazonUK
|
Advertising
Rates
Visitor
stats
MusicWeb
International
has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer
Discs
received
Having a problem
Donating?
Gerard
Hoffnung Concerts &
The
Bricklayer Story
MusicWeb
can now offer
you discs from the following catalogues:
Prices include postage
There will be NO
VAT Rises
Musicweb
Special
Offers
Monthly
Best Buys
New
Releases
New
Releases
MusicWeb
sells the Polish
catalogue CDAccord
£10.50 post free W-W
MusicWeb sells the
Arcodiva catalogue
£12.00 post free W-W
£11.75
post-free world-
wide
Google
Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.
Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon
EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide
a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk
and Amazon.com
|
Kun-Woo Paik (piano) 
