Chopin can probably
be considered to be the great pianist
of his day. His works are almost exclusively
for piano, mostly were conceived and
written to highlight his own incredible
virtuosity, and stand today as a right
of passage for any aspiring pianist.
The success of these masterworks demonstrates
the appreciation that can be garnered
for a composer and the amount of immortality
that one can attain in this world.
Alas, such immortality
can often breed overexposure, and when
that occurs truly masterful interpretations
must be achieved to warrant new compilations
of his collected works. Exceptions should
be made only when the true masters of
the piano in their own time want to
pay homage to the masters of yesteryear.
If the mastery of the performance fall
short the CD should never be pressed.
Idil Biret is one of
those exceptional artists, however,
who has earned the right to record anything
that she wants to play. She has been
one of the leading lights of the piano
over the past 40 years, recording over
70 albums and performing with symphony
orchestras all over Europe and America.
This album is a compilation of her performances
of Chopin’s work that she recorded in
the early 1990s. While no new ground
is covered by these performances, they
are astoundingly good. Few pianists
can do the work of Chopin justice better
than Idil Biret, and each of the pieces
on this collection is exquisite. Not
only is this incredibly difficult material
made to sound childishly easy, but its
innate beauty is perfectly expressed.
The selections themselves
range from the most ridiculously acrobatic
of Chopin’s scherzos and waltzes to
the most introspective of his Nocturnes.
As such, the program is interestingly
varied and well planned. The only downside
is that there is very little delving
into the lesser recorded work of Chopin,
and as such this CD becomes less essential
without casting even the slightest of
disparagement upon the performances
themselves.
In fact, these are
among the best recordings of these mostly-overdone
works that can be encountered. However,
no matter how good this album is, it
does cover material that a large percentage
of the classical-music buying community
already owns. If you do not already
have 2 or 3 recordings of the collected
works of Chopin, then this should definitely
be put on your list of purchases. If
any of the collections that you currently
own have any sub-standard performances,
then this album could easily supplement
or replace them. It is difficult to
list any album with such commonly recorded
material as essential. That being said,
it is difficult to find any reasons
not to buy this album should you have
a desire to expose yourself to the works
of Chopin; these performances are among
the best on the market.
Patrick Gary
Idil Biret (piano)