Murray Perahia (piano)
Release Date: 30th Aug 2001
Catalogue No: SK64399
Label: Sony
Length: 59 minutes
Awards: Gramophone Magazine - 100 Greatest Recordings; Gramophone Awards - 1995 - Winner Instrumental; Pinguin Guide - Rosette
"The Gramophone Good CD Guide awarded this its highest accolade, denoting "an unrivalled version, a cornerstone of the catalogue", adding that "this is surely the greatest, certainly the richest of Perahia's many exemplary recordings". Hard to disagree when faced with such consummate artistry." - The Gramophone Classical Musical Guide.
The Art of Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Richter (piano)
Release Date: 13th Sep 2004
Catalogue No: 4762203
Label: DG
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
Tchaikovsky: Morceaux & Chopin: Nocturne No. 20
Mikhail Pletnev (piano)
Release Date: 11th Apr 2005
Catalogue No: E4775378
Label: DG
Length: 69 minutes
Awards: BBC Music Magazine - July 2005 - Instrumental Choice
"Pletnev brings Tchaikovsky's music vividly to life" — BBC Music Magazine, 1st July 2008
"Pletnev is all over the final, unbuttoned trepak in grand style, and he certainly makes the glissandos swing. A fresh, unfettered account of Chopin's C sharp minor Nocturne is offered as an encore to this urgently recommended recital." - The Gramophone Classical Musical Guide.
Chopin: Waltzes & Impromptus
Arthur Rubinstein (piano)
Release Date: 10th May 2004
Catalogue No: 82876594222
Label: RCA
Series: Classic Library Series
Length: 70 minutes
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
Chopin: Waltzes Nos. 1-14, etc.
Dinu Lipatti (piano)
Catalogue No: 5669042
Label: Warner Classics
Series: Great Recordings of the Century
Length: 64 minutes
Awards: Gramophone Magazine - 100 Greatest Recordings; Pinguin Guide - Rosette
"As a former pupil of Cortot, it wasn't perhaps surprising that Lipatti always kept a special place in his heart for Chopin. And thanks primarily to the 14 Waltzes, played in a non-chronological sequence of his own choosing, it's doubtful if the disc will ever find itself long absent from the catalogue. Like the solitary Mazurka, they were recorded in Geneva during his remarkable renewal of strength in the summer of 1950. The Nocturne and Barcarolle date back to visits to EMI's Abbey Road studio in 1947 and 1948 respectively. Just once or twice in the Waltzes you might feel tempted to question his sharp tempo changes for mood contrast within one and the same piece – as for instance in No 9 in A flat, Op 69 No 1. However, for the most part his mercurial lightness, fleetness and charm are pure delight. His Nocturne in D flat has long been hailed as one of the finest versions currently available.
And even though we know he himself (one of the greatest perfectionists) was not completely happy about the Barcarolle, for the rest of us this glowing performance has a strength of direction and shapeliness all its own. In fuller contexts there's just a trace of plumminess in the recorded sound." -The Gramophone Classical Musical Guide.
Chopin - Etudes
Nikolai Lugansky (piano)
Catalogue No: 8573802282
Label: Erato
Length: 65 minutes
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
Pogorelich plays Chopin, Ravel and Prokofiev
Ivo Pogorelich (piano)
Release Date: 3rd Feb 2003
Catalogue No: 4636782
Label: DG
Series: Originals
Length: 72 minutes
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
"The unpredictable Pogorelich at his very best, accomplishing miracles of tone colour, refinement and control, with a coruscating final 'Scarbo'. The couplings are both piano sonatas: Prokofiev No 6 and the Chopin B flat minor." - The Gramophone Classical Musical Guide.
Chopin: Nocturnes Nos. 1-19, etc.
Arthur Rubinstein (piano)
Release Date: 11th Feb 2008
Catalogue No: 5096682
Label: Warner Classics
Series: Great Recordings of the Century
Length: 2 hours 35 minutes
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
"A generous selection of Rubinstein's early Chopin recordings shows a seemingly effortless, intuitively musical response to each piece. Sound quality is not an issue when faced with such great performances" - BBC Music Magazine, 1st May 2008
"A distinguished series of beautifully presented reissues" - Gramophone
"The current remastering by Andrew Walter has removed almost all the background noise, and the mono piano recording is miraculously real and vivid." - The Pinguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music
Stokowski
National Philharmonic Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
Catalogue No: CACD0529
Label: Cala
Length: 78 minutes
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
Chopin: Les Sylphides, etc.
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Catalogue No: 4291632
Label: DG
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
Chopin: Piano Concertos
Christian Zacharias (piano)
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne
Release Date: 11th Apr 2005
Catalogue No: MDG3401267
Label: MDG
Series: Gold
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
Chopin - Songs
Urszula Kryger (soprano) & Charles Spencer (piano)
Release Date: 2nd Oct 2006
Catalogue No: CDH55270
Label: Helios
Awards: Pinguin Guide - Rosette
"Chopin's songs might struggle to secure a regular place in the repertoire but at budget price there's no excuse not to encounter a master miniaturist painting on less familiar canvasses." (3/5 stars).
- BBC Music Magazine, November 2006
"A rare opportunity to sample Chopin the song composer, here performed with real feeling by Polish mezzo Urszula Kryger. The dark core of melancholy in Kryger’s voice is fine-tuned to the Slavic melodic contours of a song like The Sad Stream. And her instinctive grasp of both musical and verbal inflection makes for a beautifully understated performance of Melodya, Chopin’s last, heartfelt song of exile" - Gramophone
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