RECORDING OF THE MONTH


RECORDING OF THE MONTH

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
A London Symphony
Oboe Concerto
£11 post free World-wide



RACHMANINOV Elegy, Preludes, Piano concerto 3
£12 post free World-wide

CHAUSSON, DEBUSSY
RACHMANINOV
TRios
2CDs £16 post free World-wide

Search
What's New
Classical CD Reviews
Live Reviews
Jazz CD Reviews
Composers
Resources
Contact Us

Every Day we post 10 new Classical CD and DVD reviews. A free weekly summary is available by e-mail. MusicWeb is not a subscription site and it is our advertisers that pay for it. Please visit their sites regularly to see if anything might interest you. Purchasing from them keeps MusicWeb free.
  Classical Editor: Rob Barnett  
Founder Len Mullenger   
 


 

BUY NOW 

AmazonUK

Frédéric CHOPIN (1809-1849)

Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra
CD 1
Krakowiak, Op.14 (1828) [13:59]
Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op.13 (1828) [15:09]
Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor, Op.11 (1830) [42:40]
CD 2
Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op.22 (1834) [15:51]
Variations on La Ci Darem La Mano, Op.2 (1827) [18:04]
Piano Concerto No.2 in F Minor, Op.21 (1829) [35:07]
Kun-Woo Paik (piano)
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni Wit
rec. Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, 7-12 June 2003. DDD
2 CDs for the price of one
DECCA 4751692 [71:48 + 70:02]

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

[Acte Préalable £13.50]
[Arcodiva £12.00]
[Avie from £6.25]
[British Music Society £12.00]
[CDACCORD from £13.50 ]
[ClassicO £12.50]
[Hallé from £11]
[Heritage £10]
[Hortus £14.99 ]

[Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ]
[Nimbus Special prices]
[Northern Flowers £13.50]

[REDCLIFFE £11 ]
[Sheva £11]
[Tactus £11.50 ]
[Talent from £12.00 ]
[Toccata Classics £10.50 ]

Musicweb
Special Offers

Monthly Best Buys

 

Naxos Classical


New Releases

Hyperion


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


Return to Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.