Chopin: The Piano Works

Having discovered Chopin's unique musical treasures in my pre-teens through Naxos discs featuring Szekely, Szokolay, Zaritskaya and Biret (readily available in my small home town), I acquired this Ashkenazy set in my teenage years--that is more than ten years ago--and considered it the definitive way to Chopin's music for years. As time went by, I noticed that I returned increasingly more seldom to this set, rather ending up playing Chopin recordings by Argerich, Demidenko, Kissin and Pletnev. In other words, before I discovered the Chopin playing of Ohlsson, Moravec and Pogorelich--in my opinion, the three greatest living Chopin interpreters.

All the same, Askhenazy's (near) complete survey of Chopin's solo piano works (though inexplicably excluding the Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise) is indeed a valuable investment at around $100 (even if some shopping around will pay off on this item--I actually paid the equivalent of some $150 back in the late 1990s), offering a great deal of pleasurable returns. Ashkenazy is a master pianist when it comes to technical effortlessness, tone production, legato playing and pedaling. However, more often than not--just as Rubinstein in his stereo Chopin recordings--he lacks the individual imagination that elevates the very greatest Chopin playing of the above three pianists.

As a consequence of the aforementioned, it should come as no surprise that Ashkenazy is most at home in the Etudes, Rondos, Polonaises, Waltzes and Scherzos (save the First). His generally straightforward approach pays numerous dividends here--the Etudes in fact displaying a rather unique combination of effortless brilliance and poised poetry. Conversely, his Preludes, Sonatas and, even more so, Nocturnes and Mazurkas are fairly pale placed next to those of Ohlsson, Moravec and Pogorelich. Nonetheless, some out-and-out five-star performances are hiding within the 13 discs: the Op 37 Nocturnes, Op 42 Waltz, Opp 26 & 53 Polonaises, Op 56/1 Mazurka, Op 73 Rondo, Bolero, Second Ballade, Allegro de concert, Polonaise-Fantaisie and Op 25/1 Etude--the greatest performance of this heavenly creation (Chopin's most beautiful?), second only to Ohlsson's.

A problem throughout this set is the sharp, metallic piano sound Decca insists on producing (indeed weird compared to the label's demonstration sound in opera and orchestra productions), recorded at seven different venues in London over a 10-year period (1974-84), analogly as well as and digitally. Having said that, the sound is remarkably consistent. (As a matter of curiosity, can you hear the chirping birds during the C major Prelude?)

From an investment point of view, this Ashkenazy set appears expensive when compared to the 11-disc Rubinstein collection at less than $30 (The Chopin Collection)--not to mention the reference Ohlsson cycle soon to be reissued on 11 November by Hyperion as a 16-disc boxed set (Complete Works), available at a lower price than this set (at least in the UK). The minus in brackets pertains to the sound and price tag.

This is a great set to own to get a good feeling for the entirety
of Chopin's output. However, I feel (with appropriate respect to all
the other reviewers here) that one needs to dig a little deeper
for truly benchmark performances of these little miracles.
For example, try Demidenko for the Ballades and the third sonata,
check out Pollini for the Nocturnes and show Chiu a little love
for the Mazurkas and Etudes.

This is an absolutely fantastic set. I was lucky enough to acquire it for less than $45 when I was still a member of the Musical Heritage Society a few years ago; so Amazon's price here can definitely be beaten if one looks around.

Ashkenazi's playing is stunning, handling not only the well-known (if not overly well-known) pieces that are staples of the modern repertoire but also the obscure pieces. Chopin is notoriously difficult for even the most accomplished virtuosi, but Ashkenazi handles it all with a grace and ease. He also avoids the mistake that so many interpreters make (from amateurs to the biggest names): the tendency to play Chopin as though it were either a mathematical exercise or a dexterity contest (something Bach interpreters can also fall prey to). In other words, squeezing the depthless pathos out of the music and leaving behind only sterile--if note perfect--reproductions. (Rather like wax-work figures.)

That's not an issue here. It doesn't take too much imagination to close one's eyes and transport one's self back to an early 19th century drawing room, listening to the Master himself play his own works.

I've listened to the entire set (one of the first things I did was rip the whole set to my iPod) and the Ballades, Scherzi, Waltzes and Mazurkas are my favorites.

The Preludes, long my favorite works by the Franco-Polish maestro, are excellent, but they don't quite equal a Naxos recording by an obscure Polish pianist, named Irina Zaritzkaya, which I discovered when Naxos first debuted in '89 or '90. I've yet to hear anyone top Ms. Zaritskaya's performance and highly recommend it. (Naxos #8.550225; though it appears to be out of print, if you can find it snatch it up! It's popularity can be judged by it's "used" price on Amazon: $22, for a disc I bought for $3.99 in 1990).

Though the individual discs were recorded over a period of 10 years (from 1975 to 1985), there is a uniform quality of sound & performance that equals Mr. Ashkenazi's playing. (No wonder Brezhnev and the Politburo gave Ashkenazi his freedom, they didn't want to chase him off to the West.)

If you're a Chopin fan, this set is the bar by which all single-performer collections must be judged.

Decca's packaging is also superb. The outer box is made of thick, tough cardboard. One could also wish for comprehensive liner notes as opposed to the rather brief essay included in the track list booklet. Why Decca didn't commission a written intro from Mr. Ashkenazi himself is mysterious to me. But that the only real complaint I have about this set. A DVD would have been a nice touch, especially at nearly $100, but these are gentle complaints at worst.

The only way to really have improved on this set would have been to have made the disc SACD Hybrids, but that would have almost certainly raised the price. A good surround-sound system can get you pretty close to SACD quality anyway.

One FYI note: some people seemed to be very concered with the SPARS code (for a complete description see the en.wikipedia.org article) of art music CDs. One shouldn't be. Even the creator of the system has disowned it. The primary reason is that while digital tape recorders are relatively inexpensive, digital mixing boards are still extremely pricey. So much so that most CDs recorded digitally are mixed on analogue boards and the mastered digitally. So many CDs should have codes that read DAD. So do yourself a huge favor and simply ignore that SPARS codes altogether. Either rely on your own ears, word-of-mouth or the more intelligent Amazon.com reviewers, of which, at least for art music, there are a great many.

Unlike the assertion by one reviewer, nowhere does this set claim to be the "complete" solo piano oeuvre by the composer (I have the boxed set in front on me as I write this). It's simply titled, "The Piano Works."

My hats off to this CD collection! It was worth it!!! Chopin is a true genius for the piano, on this collection.

This is a beautifully played collection of Chopin's work. It was a birthday gift,
and I listen to bits of it every day. I have yet to find a favorite
CD, as each is so lovely. It is well worth the price.