Interesting. I have listened to a ridiculous amount of recordings of the Preludes and I don't think I've listened to Moisewitsch. My favorites (probably) are Pogorelich (1989), Cortot (1933), Pollini, Sokolov (1990), Arrau (1973), Katsaris (1992), and for one from this century, I'd go with Blechacz (2007).
It was a difficult choice to recommend just one complete version! All those you mention are terrific in their disparate ways. I'd also add both Ivan Moravec recordings, Pollini's first DG traversal, Argerich, the first and very underrated Ashkenazy version on Decca, Alexandre Tharaud, and a really distinctive and totally undervalued recording by Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy.
Sokolov is one of the only times I've heard an interpretation of something and thought, "Wow. That's definitely how this should be done. What have I been listening to all these years?" Right from the very first one where he starts soft and builds up to an actual climactic moment with rubato to enhance it. It's romantic music through and through not a technical Czerny study like many interpretations.
@@jdistler2 Yes, the Pollini version that I was referring to was, of course, the early one. Tharaud is fantastic. Moravec is elegance personified. Argerich I like but I don't recall very well. I have never heard of Schmitt-Leonardy, Mr. Distler. Thanks very much for the recommendation. I have been reading your writings on music for years. All the best to you.
@@jdistler2yes, Leonardy recording is incredible. N° 5 has a lot of voicings inside the caos. I also liked Pletnev live in Moscow. I grew up with Dimitri Alexev recording but other like Arrau made me have several favourites. More recently Eric Lu also delivers a great cicle.
I’ve always loved how Moisewitsch hangs on that top note in 5:03. I also like how he repeats the 7th prelude (in his 1961 recording), and generally enjoy the various liberties he takes in the set. So great to see him featured here! I would also recommend Yekwon Sunwoo’s preludes on youtube - not a radical take, but just extremely convincing and perfect to me. I found out later in an interview that Sunwoo feels most proud/satisfied of that particular performance.
Moiseiwitsch’s Chopin is to die for…but also Cortot, Vlado Perlemuter, Guiomar Novaes, and Dinu Lipatti (who died at 33 and unfortunately never got to record the Preludes) are also among the greatest Chopin interpreters of the last century….
One of the great musical experiences I had in the concert hall in my teenage years was to hear Rudolf Serkin in New York play the complete Chopin Preludes live. Though he was never known as a Chopinist, I found his performance extraordinarily compelling, organic as a whole and beautifully expressive in individual pieces. There were no dull noncommital moments. As usual with Serkin (I saw him play the Hammerklavier and other Beethoven sonatas on other occasions), his intense concentration and absorption in the music held you in his thrall from start to finish. I don't remember if it was the February 1969 performance at Carnegie which appears on RUclips, recorded by a low fidelity surreptitious recording device in the audience (before the advent of Joe Patrych)---as Serkin played the Preludes in concert many times, according to the late Harris Goldsmith.
I absolutely love this podcast! Thank you so much for doing this, it is a real treat for a huge Chopin lover! I wonder if you will cover the fantastic work of British pianist and piano teacher Angela Lear who dedicated her entire life to Chopins music, studying the man to play as close as possible to how he may have intended his music to be played. Her recordings are astonishing!
Busoni recorded Prelude No. 7 in A major, connected to the Ètude in G-flat Op. 10 No. 5, which is a remarkable recording of Chopin's work-definitely worth checking out, at the very least for the novelty of hearing Busoni's preluding into the G-flat ètude from the A major prelude!
Moisewitsch along with his contemporaries such as Friedman, Cortot and the young Dinu Lipatti possessed a beautiful and subtle tonal range. This artistry in Cantabile playing made these great pianists ideal interpreters of Chopin.
Personally, I think that Aimi Kobayashi’s performance in round 3 of the Chopin competition from 2021 to be the most compelling and wonderful performance of the Chopin preludes. Simply stunning.
@@TheRobyMann : I agree. I tried several times to leave a comment recommending Amy Kobayashi’s 2021 Chopin Competition, but it kept disappearing or was deleted. 😎🎹
Claudio Arrau’s live rendition on APR. Please find it and buy it. So much different from his studio recording. Arrau was on fire that day producing one the greatest piano recitals recorded
What his assistant Karol Mikuli called the “chaste… at times almost severely reserved” playing of Chopin was soon swamped by romantic virtuosi. Jed’s choices are great but I’d suggest also sampling Merzhanov’s mono Preludes and even that “dry old bird” ( per the critic Piero Rattalino) Nikita Magaloff. Argerich plays more passionately yet she admired Prince Nikita.
There's Cortot, of course, not just the classic recordings but also the late one given live in Munich. I very much admired Ivan Moravec's Supraphon op. 28. Beatrice Rana, too.
I'm also a big fan of Tharaud's recordings. Although there is understandable consensus around Bolet's live 1974 Carnegie Hall recording of the Preludes, I actually prefer his later Decca studio recording. The studio readings are admittedly more sedate and careful, yet are very thoughtfully detailed and patiently sung out, as well as sonically superior.
Question... Some years ago I saw an interview on telly - a Polish pianist talking about Chopin and the melancholy nature of his music as a national trait. I really liked his playing, but unfortunately I have no idea who he was. I guess it was 10-15 years ago, when he looked to be in his 50s. Anyone got any ideas?
Maybe it was Adam Harasiewitsch, who won the Chopin Contest in the 60ies, about the same time as Pollini. Both of them great players of the Chopin music, but the first one totally underrated.
@@paulmeisel339 Thanks for the suggestions, but no, neither of them. He was definitely Polish because he was implying only a Pole could really understand the sense of melancholy in Chopin's work as it was a shared national trait - like fado giving rise to longing for Lisboa in Portuguese people. I wish I could find out who he was because whether his theory was right or not, he had a lovely touch and played Chopin divinely.
Whats weird is for me, on the Preludes, one of my favorites is Pollini. Normally hes not one of my favorites. There is no pianist that i like all of them they do, but Pollini is very musically sound throughout. Argerich's performance is noteworthy because its just so fast and technically stellar. Her b flat minir is ridiculous.
It’s wonderful to see so many responses to my comments. And you might also enjoy my own podcast The Piano Maven with Jed Distler, as well as my weekly radio show Between the Keys
@@jdistler2 I'm currently catching up on your podcast, which RUclips recommended to me very recently. I've read so many of your reviews already (especially on ClassicsToday) so there are times when I kind of anticipate your comments! But it's great content and always very informative, of course.
Not sure i totally agree with this man's assessments. I found his b flat minor to be messy, overly dry (which as a Bachian i almost never say), and labored.
@@r.i.p.volodyathat's right. Many of the pieces have even gotten sounding so canned for the chopin competition. That said, you should be a bad ass to deviate from the score too much.
@@r.i.p.volodya there are a dozen recordings of these that truly sound the same. The only difference is the instrument, room, mic, engineer, etc. which pianists typically spend very little time thinking about. Wish more musicians would just take whatever liberties they feel.
Tiffany Poon plays them best. I am from the Chopin lineage (through Decombes, Cortot, Haskil, Feutchwanger). Here is my utterly beautiful first prelude entitled: 'Laude' (from my magnificent set of 24 original compositions) - ruclips.net/video/cOGsIW8a2TM/видео.html
@@militaryandemergencyservic3286 there is not a best, there is a lot of talent out there who do not have such a following, but she is great live that's for sure I would see her again
@@philipk4475 that's not the point - the question is: what is your favourite of my 24 Carnival Preludes? Perhaps no. 24 ( 'Schumann-Chopin') or maybe no. 4 ('Schubert'?)
to be honest I never used to care much for his preludes. They are hardly his best. His scherzi and polonaises and etudes and mazurkas and concerti are his best, in my humble opinion. His preludes, ballades and waltzes are not as good, Actually not all his polonaises are first-rate, either. But after Ashkenazy's Decca recording and Ms. Poon's swansong-like performance, they have grown on me. Check out my polonaise (yet another one of my superb compositions) - ruclips.net/video/NDnJNk17q8E/видео.html
Genuinely was overjoyed when I saw you announce this series. Thanks so much Ben
Moiseiwitsch has always been one of my favorite pianists. He always delivers elegance, charm and delight in playing.
Interesting. I have listened to a ridiculous amount of recordings of the Preludes and I don't think I've listened to Moisewitsch. My favorites (probably) are Pogorelich (1989), Cortot (1933), Pollini, Sokolov (1990), Arrau (1973), Katsaris (1992), and for one from this century, I'd go with Blechacz (2007).
It was a difficult choice to recommend just one complete version! All those you mention are terrific in their disparate ways. I'd also add both Ivan Moravec recordings, Pollini's first DG traversal, Argerich, the first and very underrated Ashkenazy version on Decca, Alexandre Tharaud, and a really distinctive and totally undervalued recording by Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy.
Sokolov is one of the only times I've heard an interpretation of something and thought, "Wow. That's definitely how this should be done. What have I been listening to all these years?" Right from the very first one where he starts soft and builds up to an actual climactic moment with rubato to enhance it. It's romantic music through and through not a technical Czerny study like many interpretations.
I've listened to that Pogorelich recording since I was an early teen.
Not perfect, but I've spun that disc countless times and still enjoy it.
@@jdistler2 Yes, the Pollini version that I was referring to was, of course, the early one. Tharaud is fantastic. Moravec is elegance personified. Argerich I like but I don't recall very well. I have never heard of Schmitt-Leonardy, Mr. Distler. Thanks very much for the recommendation. I have been reading your writings on music for years. All the best to you.
@@jdistler2yes, Leonardy recording is incredible. N° 5 has a lot of voicings inside the caos. I also liked Pletnev live in Moscow. I grew up with Dimitri Alexev recording but other like Arrau made me have several favourites. More recently Eric Lu also delivers a great cicle.
I’ve always loved how Moisewitsch hangs on that top note in 5:03. I also like how he repeats the 7th prelude (in his 1961 recording), and generally enjoy the various liberties he takes in the set. So great to see him featured here!
I would also recommend Yekwon Sunwoo’s preludes on youtube - not a radical take, but just extremely convincing and perfect to me. I found out later in an interview that Sunwoo feels most proud/satisfied of that particular performance.
The first recording I ever heard were by Walter Klein and I still love the way he played them. Highly recommended.
These are my two favourite traversals also! Beautifully described, Jed!
Moiseiwitsch’s Chopin is to die for…but also Cortot, Vlado Perlemuter, Guiomar Novaes, and Dinu Lipatti (who died at 33 and unfortunately never got to record the Preludes) are also among the greatest Chopin interpreters of the last century….
One of the great musical experiences I had in the concert hall in my teenage years was to hear Rudolf Serkin in New York play the complete Chopin Preludes live. Though he was never known as a Chopinist, I found his performance extraordinarily compelling, organic as a whole and beautifully expressive in individual pieces. There were no dull noncommital moments. As usual with Serkin (I saw him play the Hammerklavier and other Beethoven sonatas on other occasions), his intense concentration and absorption in the music held you in his thrall from start to finish. I don't remember if it was the February 1969 performance at Carnegie which appears on RUclips, recorded by a low fidelity surreptitious recording device in the audience (before the advent of Joe Patrych)---as Serkin played the Preludes in concert many times, according to the late Harris Goldsmith.
ARGERICHHHHHH Tokyo recording !
Cortot hands down
Exquisite examples of peerless poetic historical performances on this video. Many thanks.
Pogorelich, without a doubt
Argerich for the dark butterfly or the soleil noir de la mélancolie.
I absolutely love this podcast! Thank you so much for doing this, it is a real treat for a huge Chopin lover!
I wonder if you will cover the fantastic work of British pianist and piano teacher Angela Lear who dedicated her entire life to Chopins music, studying the man to play as close as possible to how he may have intended his music to be played. Her recordings are astonishing!
I like the cat in the background!
My cat Shooby always interrupts my work sessions!
Moisewitsch’s prelude is soul-soothing. (Thank you for the podcast, Ben and guests. Your videos are always a treat)
Busoni recorded Prelude No. 7 in A major, connected to the Ètude in G-flat Op. 10 No. 5, which is a remarkable recording of Chopin's work-definitely worth checking out, at the very least for the novelty of hearing Busoni's preluding into the G-flat ètude from the A major prelude!
Pollini live Tokyo 1974 ❤
While I’m not a super big fan of Pogo, his recordings of the preludes are one of the pinnacles of classical interpretation
Thanks!
Invaluable. Thanks! (That was probably the nicest no 7 I’ve ever heard, kitschy note notwithstanding). Cute cat :)
Moisewitsch along with his contemporaries such as Friedman, Cortot and the young Dinu Lipatti possessed a beautiful and subtle tonal range. This artistry in Cantabile playing made these great pianists ideal interpreters of Chopin.
Personally, I think that Aimi Kobayashi’s performance in round 3 of the Chopin competition from 2021 to be the most compelling and wonderful performance of the Chopin preludes. Simply stunning.
True
@@TheRobyMann : I agree. I tried several times to leave a comment recommending Amy Kobayashi’s 2021 Chopin Competition, but it kept disappearing or was deleted.
😎🎹
Agree. I also love Alexander Gadjiev's performance of the op45 prelude in that competition.
Christoph Eschenbach for me. The only recording where I feel a true sense of continuity between all preludes, like one huge piece.
Claudio Arrau’s live rendition on APR.
Please find it and buy it.
So much different from his studio recording. Arrau was on fire that day producing one the greatest piano recitals recorded
What his assistant Karol Mikuli called the “chaste… at times almost severely reserved” playing of Chopin was soon swamped by romantic virtuosi. Jed’s choices are great but I’d suggest also sampling Merzhanov’s mono Preludes and even that “dry old bird” ( per the critic Piero Rattalino) Nikita Magaloff. Argerich plays more passionately yet she admired Prince Nikita.
Thanks for mentioning Merzhanov!
There's Cortot, of course, not just the classic recordings but also the late one given live in Munich. I very much admired Ivan Moravec's Supraphon op. 28. Beatrice Rana, too.
Love the Bolet live at Carnegie Hall performance. Alexander Tharaud also delivers a great set of preludes.
I'm also a big fan of Tharaud's recordings. Although there is understandable consensus around Bolet's live 1974 Carnegie Hall recording of the Preludes, I actually prefer his later Decca studio recording. The studio readings are admittedly more sedate and careful, yet are very thoughtfully detailed and patiently sung out, as well as sonically superior.
Interesting episode. Any thoughts about Eric Lu's 2020 studio recording of the Preludes?
Sokolov Salzburg Recital should be mentioned especially it was live
Vladimir Horowitz will forever be my favorite Chopin (and Rachmaninoff) performer. He brought so much life into every piece he played.
Pollini playing #24
I haVe the Chopin PreludeS twice iN my CD CollecTion. Played by Pogorelich and AvdeEva, botH did A nice job:
I am listening to Episode 1 on Spotify and I just heard you mention an Eric Lu interview. Which episode is this?
@@Bengraziano Episode 11, Sonatas (December release)
Aimi Kobayashi at the 2021 Chopin competition
Michelangeli my favorite for this.
Cortot rewards careful listening.
Question... Some years ago I saw an interview on telly - a Polish pianist talking about Chopin and the melancholy nature of his music as a national trait. I really liked his playing, but unfortunately I have no idea who he was. I guess it was 10-15 years ago, when he looked to be in his 50s. Anyone got any ideas?
Maybe it was Adam Harasiewitsch, who won the Chopin Contest in the 60ies, about the same time as Pollini. Both of them great players of the Chopin music, but the first one totally underrated.
@@paulmeisel339 Thanks for the suggestions, but no, neither of them. He was definitely Polish because he was implying only a Pole could really understand the sense of melancholy in Chopin's work as it was a shared national trait - like fado giving rise to longing for Lisboa in Portuguese people. I wish I could find out who he was because whether his theory was right or not, he had a lovely touch and played Chopin divinely.
Mikhail Pletnëv 🙏
Ivan Moravec has a great recording
Whats weird is for me, on the Preludes, one of my favorites is Pollini. Normally hes not one of my favorites. There is no pianist that i like all of them they do, but Pollini is very musically sound throughout. Argerich's performance is noteworthy because its just so fast and technically stellar. Her b flat minir is ridiculous.
7:25 You just know he’s had to fish that cat out of the piano at some point.
Tell me about it! Shooby constantly interrupts my work!
It’s wonderful to see so many responses to my comments. And you might also enjoy my own podcast The Piano Maven with Jed Distler, as well as my weekly radio show Between the Keys
@@jdistler2 I'm currently catching up on your podcast, which RUclips recommended to me very recently. I've read so many of your reviews already (especially on ClassicsToday) so there are times when I kind of anticipate your comments! But it's great content and always very informative, of course.
Thank you so much! I appreciate your kind words!
7:24 nyan nyan spotted 🐈
Has Yunchan Lim taken on the Chopin preludes yet????? 🙂
I hope so!
@@sun-youngsunnykim8794 If so, then there will be a new #1 at the top of the etude category very shortly lol 😀
None of his RUclips videos features any Chopin Preludes. I’m sure he’ll get around to them eventually. 😎🎹
Have you already declared them the greatest ever ?
@@Pablo-gl9dj Nope
Did Moiseiwitsch record the preludes more than once?
Is the one on Naxos, the one that is being played here?
He only recorded the complete Préludes once, in 1948 I believe, and it's the one reissued by Naxos, as well as by APR.
@@jdistler2 Wow, Thanks for the reply! Looking forward to a great listen!
Halina Czerny - Stefanska .
Not sure i totally agree with this man's assessments. I found his b flat minor to be messy, overly dry (which as a Bachian i almost never say), and labored.
Larrocha
Before watching i say the beast himself Mario
Super Mario?
Mario Lanza? 😀
I think we are romanticizing the past here. Pun intended. The old guard took too many liberties with the music like that ghastly mid-pause in op. 16.
"Liberties" are exactly what was expected in the Golden Era of performance and recording. These days, everyone sounds the same.
@@r.i.p.volodyathat's right. Many of the pieces have even gotten sounding so canned for the chopin competition. That said, you should be a bad ass to deviate from the score too much.
You'd probably say the same thing if you heard Chopin himself play!
@@r.i.p.volodya there are a dozen recordings of these that truly sound the same. The only difference is the instrument, room, mic, engineer, etc. which pianists typically spend very little time thinking about. Wish more musicians would just take whatever liberties they feel.
Moravec
sokolov❤
András Schiff
Kissin live in Tokyo 1998
Rafal Blechacz for best preludes
Claudio Arrau
Tiffany Poon plays them best. I am from the Chopin lineage (through Decombes, Cortot, Haskil, Feutchwanger). Here is my utterly beautiful first prelude entitled: 'Laude' (from my magnificent set of 24 original compositions) - ruclips.net/video/cOGsIW8a2TM/видео.html
I saw her perform them at her London debut, great pianist
@@chester6343 yes - she is certainly the best female pianist today.
@@militaryandemergencyservic3286 there is not a best, there is a lot of talent out there who do not have such a following, but she is great live that's for sure I would see her again
@@militaryandemergencyservic3286 well she's definitely your favorite
@@philipk4475 that's not the point - the question is: what is your favourite of my 24 Carnival Preludes? Perhaps no. 24 ( 'Schumann-Chopin') or maybe no. 4 ('Schubert'?)
to be honest I never used to care much for his preludes. They are hardly his best. His scherzi and polonaises and etudes and mazurkas and concerti are his best, in my humble opinion. His preludes, ballades and waltzes are not as good, Actually not all his polonaises are first-rate, either. But after Ashkenazy's Decca recording and Ms. Poon's swansong-like performance, they have grown on me. Check out my polonaise (yet another one of my superb compositions) - ruclips.net/video/NDnJNk17q8E/видео.html
Not Cortot.
For sure cortot
Not cortot for anything really. Lol I didn't find this critic's takes to be insightful at all, and in some cases wrong.
@@TunesOfTheEarth You don't know how much all pianists respect Cortot's prelude recordings.
@@scherrer4715 "all pianists?" wow I guess I'm not a pianist! 🤣🤣
@@TunesOfTheEarth Pardon! I was going to say all important pianists, not amateurs.
Cortot!? Seriously this fellow doesn’t know what is up! 😅
Meanwhile, you know better than anyone else. Obviously.
@@MisterPathetique I know better than most!
@@TunesOfTheEarth You know how to boast, that's clear! 🤣