Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Ballade No. 1 in G minor [10:06]
Ballade No. 2 in F [7:47]
Ballade No. 3 in A flat [7:50]
Ballade No. 4 in F minor [12:02]
Impromptu No. 1 in A flat [3:50]
Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp [6:02]
Impromptu No. 3 in G flat [5:44]
Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor Fantaisie-impromptu [5:05]
Bella Davidovich (piano)
rec. February 1981, Watford Town Hall, England, and December 1982, Switzerland
(Impromptus 1-3)
NEWTON CLASSICS 8802047 [58:25]
Bella Davidovich’s Chopin tends toward the slow, heavy, poetical side,
relying on well-judged rubato and tonal bloom for its effect. There are great
turns of phrase in her Ballades, and a grounded solidity which recall the
simple, powerful expressiveness of Rubinstein, but there’s also something
missing. I would like a bit more lightness of touch, a greater readiness to
gamble with pianissimo notes and whispered melodies. The main theme of the
first ballade, in particular, can be a little too middling in its appearances,
and the first impromptu sounds rather - if this is a word - promptu.
It’s a little interesting to me that the booklet notes explicitly contrast
Davidovich’s Chopin with the “more sombre versions by Claudio
Arrau”. Davidovich seems sombre too, except in moments like Ballade
No. 3 and the final pages of the first impromptu. When the theme of Ballade
No. 2 returns after the first stormy episode, it lacks uplift and sags instead;
the closing chords of No. 4 simply don’t work out well. Other episodes
often sound beautiful; Davidovich coaxes gorgeous sounds out of her instrument.
But so does Arrau, and so, for that matter, does Ivan Moravec, whose ballade
recordings with Supraphon (and No. 4, live, on Vox) are master-classes in
how to combine lightness of touch, emotional depth, and resplendent color
in this music.
There are good things on this mid-price disc. The “Fantaisie-impromptu”
is given an outstanding reading, fresh and stirringly emotive. The first impromptu
opens stiffly but ends well, and the momentum carries over into a powerfully
hewn second impromptu, the central section of which rings out clear and emphatic.
The third ballade, as mentioned, goes well too. Still, these performances
won’t be dislodging Moravec, Rubinstein, or Arrau from the top of my
Chopin shelf. The sound quality, for what it’s worth, is very fine,
though the piano has a tendency to clang about at its loudest. I am not sure
I understand the acclaim which these recordings receive in some quarters,
but acclaim there certainly is. It’s all a matter of taste. This is
well-done Chopin, in the steak sense of the term: cooked to safety all the
way through, but a little dry in consequence. I happen to prefer my Chopin
rare: tender, with greater give and a hint (just) of rawness at heart. Bella
Davidovich feels differently, and even when her recipe leaves me unmoved it
does command respect.
Brian Reinhart
Heavy Chopin which commands respect but not my enjoyment.