The Real Chopin.

[Panjandrum]

Just played the Fou T'song recital: it seems a bit churlish to complain at less than 50p a disc; but I have to confess that some of the tempos chosen by the venerable Vietnamese pianist were somewhat on the sluggish side IMO. Rarely have I heard the mazurkas given with such an absence of panache, more courtly minuets than mercurial quicksilver dances.

[Bryn]

Much as I admire the patience that you technical buffs have, it does seem to me that you spend more of your time grappling with these problems rather than just playing and enjoying the music!

Micky, if the mazurka in question had played without skipping and stuttering I would indeed have just played and enjoyed the music, but it didn't. Fortunately I have found a way of extracting the audio data from the CD. An almost brand new player with a laser unit in prime condition has been able to read the track, and the player in question just happens to have a coax S/PDIF output I could feed to my Alesis Mastertrack hard disc recorder/editor and thus allow me to listen to that mazurka as intended.

With all multi-disc sets it is worth checking the playability of each disc as soon as possible. It would not be much use finding out that a disc was faulty only when you got round to playing it several months after purchase, would it? Extracting the audio data to hard disc using EAC or something like Audio DVD Creator is a fairly quick and effective way of checking the integrity of the discs.

[MickyD]

Sorry, Bryn, I misunderstood and didn't realise you were talking about the original disc. I will now hastily try out my disc 15 and see if I have the same problem - I hadn't got there yet!

I wholeheartedly agree with you about playing all discs as soon as possible after purchase. I will never forget trawling through all 60 CDs of the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt Bach cantatas box to see if all was OK. Thankfully it was - listening to all the cantatas in such a short space of time was something of a marathon, but an enjoyable one at that!

[Keybawd]

Just played the Fou T'song recital: it seems a bit churlish to complain at less than 50p a disc; but I have to confess that some of the tempos chosen by the venerable Vietnamese pianist were somewhat on the sluggish side IMO.

Actually Fou Ts'ong is Chinese from Shanghai. He won the Mazurka prize at the Chopin Competition in 1955. His early recordings of the Mazurkas were jewels. I haven't heard his later Chopin recordings. I shall try to hear him on these new CDs.

[MickyD]

I'm about half way through the set now and am really thrilled with it. I certainly would have bought it at full price. I find that there are many box sets which lie dormant once heard, but I have a feeling this one is going to be listened to again and again.

[amateur51]

I find that I'm listening to it with Steinway-adapted ears - what I'm anticipating momentarily, how I've always heard Chopin's music both 'live' and on recording - so I'm thrilled & fascinated by the non-Steinway sounds, which are more akin to what Chopin would have heard in his head as he was writing, of course. So I'm re-learning all this wonderful music - cheers Amazon!

[vinteuil]

amateur 51 - that is such a good response - I'm delighted to hear that you're reacting like this to the early piano experience... I know it's an 'acquired taste' - but often I find people being immediately negative - "pub piano" - and so your words are balm to this old fogey who has been banging on old pianos and banging on about old pianos for the last forty years....

[MickyD]

Yes, it makes a change to find someone so open-minded to period pianos. A good friend of mine always used to walk into the room where a CD of them was playing and exclaim "oh dear, that sounds like one of those sick pianos again." Mind you, I think I'm right in saying that a considerable amount of restoration and work has gone into the two pianos on these discs - they sound in much better playing order than many I've heard.

[amateur51]

amateur 51 - that is such a good response - I'm delighted to hear that you're reacting like this to the early piano experience... I know it's an 'acquired taste' - but often I find people being immediately negative - "pub piano" - and so your words are balm to this old fogey who has been banging on old pianos and banging on about old pianos for the last forty years....

I'm really impressed vinteuil & MickyD - ever since you & Bryn opened my ears to the Brautigam Beethoven piano sonatas series I've been keen to hear more on early pianos.

I recall being repelled by the sound of Melvyn Tan's fortepiano - maybe I should go back and listen to his stuff again now? - but these latest manifestations are just the ticket

Bring it on!

[Bryn]

I suppose I must have heard fortepiano broadcasts on the Third, or Radio 3 before I got my first discs of concertos by Mozart and Beethoven with historical instruments at Orchesography, back in the '70s (Paul Badura-Skoda and Jorg Demus were the pianists on those LPs). I was hooked by their playing. Then the Malcolm Binns Beethoven Sonatas survey on a range of instruments from the Colt Collection was released by Decca on their L'Oiseau-Lyre label. They I treasure. Would that Universal re-issued more than just the Late Sonatas on CD.

[amateur51]

Thanks for the tip, Bryn!

Duly noted - Mr Duncan-Smiff will be paying in another instalment on Thursday

[Piano Man]

In #16 Panjandrum mentioned that he had been underwhelmed by the Fou Ts'ong recital of Mazurkas, a sentiment that I also had on first hearing. I've been trying to work out why, and if it had just been my mood at the time. Unfortunately whilst I have more Fou Ts'ong's playing Chopin on a modern Grand, I couldn't find a direct comparison. So I've had to consider these on their own terms.

The first problem, I think, is the order of the pieces chosen. The recital starts off with the introspective C# Minor and G# Minor and this sets the tone. The Ab Major, Op 24/3, could be taken with more bravado and swagger, but becomes just as pensive. Decending phrases in the Op 24/4 become rushed and uncoordinated, leading into a quieter parts that almost come to a complete stop.

Brief stretches of sunlight in the Ab Major Op 50/2, but by then a lot of momentum has been lost and wayward rubato reappears, especially in the other Op 50 in G Major and the Op 33/4. Improvements in phrasing come with the B Minor Op 30/2 and the E Minor Op 17/2 but still with a tendancy to extreme rubato, often strangely in the penultimate bar of a phrase.

Overall, not a great success, but not a disaster.

However, I've been much more impressed by the Dina Yoffe, Nelson Goerner and Nikolai Demidenko. And the 2nd Concerto is a revalation! A superb set. And thanks to Amazon for such a bargain!

[MickyD]

amateur51, welcome to our club! I have so many discs of fortepiano recordings, it's difficult to know where to start recommending. IMO, you should certainly investigate any of the recordings made by Andreas Staier - he did some good Dussek, Clementi and Schubert piano sonatas on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. Also seek out his disc of two piano concertos by John Field with Concerto Koln....I am just sorry that he didn't do all seven of them. Field being the supposed "inventor" of the nocturne, his music makes an interesting precursor to Chopin.

[amateur51]

Many thanks for these tips, MickyD.

A happy morning searching various websites awaits, apparently

[amateur51]

I suppose I must have heard fortepiano broadcasts on the Third, or Radio 3 before I got my first discs of concertos by Mozart and Beethoven with historical instruments at Orchesography, back in the '70s (Paul Badura-Skoda and Jorg Demus were the pianists on those LPs). I was hooked by their playing. Then the Malcolm Binns Beethoven Sonatas survey on a range of instruments from the Colt Collection was released by Decca on their L'Oiseau-Lyre label. They I treasure. Would that Universal re-issued more than just the Late Sonatas on CD.

I ordered this yesterday and it turned up today via Royal Mail first class post - what service!

And what sounds! - many thanks again for this tip Bryn. I can only echo your plea for the CD release of other performances.

Meanwhile, I scout around for second-hand versions of Mr Brautigam's foray into Beethoven.

Year of the Rabbit? - happy bunny here!