Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op 23 [9:26]
Ballade No. 2 in F, Op 38 [6:51]
Ballade No. 3 in A flat, Op 47 [7:15]
Ballade No. 4 in G minor, Op 52 [10:51]
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4 [4:48]
Mazurka in C, Op. 68 No. 1 [1:50]
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 67 No. 4 [3:06]
Waltz in D flat, Op. 64 No. 1, “Minute” [1:55]
Waltz in A flat, Op. 69 No. 1 [4:01]
Largo in E flat [2:02]
Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op. 44 [10:43]
Jean Muller (piano)
rec. 25-27 May, 2010, Luxembourg Conservatory
FONDAMENTA FON 1005008 [62:48]
Jean Muller’s Chopin recital comes with two CDs containing identical
performances. One is mastered to sound best on hi-fi stereo equipment, the
other “adapted” for computer and car speakers. I have never
seen anything like this before. So when I opened the package, I put the
“mobility” CD into my $720 (£450) laptop, set the computer
next to the sink, and began mopping the floors.
Now, anybody who’s reviewed a CD, or honestly anybody who’s
read a review, knows that it’s unfair to write a review of a disc
you’ve heard out of laptop speakers while mopping the floor in the
benevolent acoustic of your bathroom. It’s almost unethical. No recording
will sound good in these circumstances.
Except that Jean Muller’s Chopin did sound good. Good enough,
certainly, that halfway through Ballade No. 1 I started thinking, “this
is very good Chopin playing”. The engineers made sure that the recording
sounded full, rather than tinny, partly by taming the treble, which can
pierce your eardrums on a cheap system. They also upped the volume baseline
so everything is clearly audible - for road noise in a car - producing the
sad side effect that there’s no genuinely quiet playing. Regardless,
I can’t think of a piano recording that sounded better on my laptop.
Naturally, I then attempted to listen to the “adapted” CD with
audiophile headphones. If you do so, turn down the volume or get ready for
miking so close that you can hear Muller’s feet pushing against the
pedals. Back-to-back comparison with the high-fidelity CD reveals that the
loudest bits are just as loud, but on the top-quality disc the dynamic range
is significantly wider, and Muller’s playing much more varied. He
makes great use of different volume levels; you just wouldn’t notice
while mopping the floors.
Anyway, Jean Muller’s Chopin is very good. These are very solid performances
of the four ballades, plus a powerful polonaise and some very nicely done
mazurkas and waltzes. Those latter works place more emphasis on rhythm and
dance than on soft-touch lyricism. The second ballade and mazurka Op. 17
No. 4 reveal that Muller isn’t quite as poetic as the very best, especially
in softer passages like the ballade’s opening, which he takes too
literally. The fourth ballade’s coda doesn’t hold together either,
if we’re being honest. However, overall his Chopin impresses with
its good taste, straightforward eloquence, smart pacing and fleet (but unrushed)
fingers.
Yes, this recital is good enough to justify release even without acoustic
gimmicks. It’s not just a novelty to have the two discs. Although
novelty may well have been good enough in this case, because there’s
nothing like Chopin to cheer you up when you’re mopping the bathroom
floor.
Brian Reinhart
The playing is well worth hearing even without the novelty of appearing
on two differently-engineered CDs for price of one.
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