Maria Joao Pires : CD : Chopin

Tracks

	Disc 1
	Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58 (Frédéric Chopin):
	1. 1. Allegro maestoso
	2. 2. Scherzo (Molto vivace)
	3. 3. Largo
	4. 4. Finale (Presto non tanto)
	Nocturne No. 1 in B op. 62 (Frédéric Chopin):
	5. 1. Nocturne in B (Andante)
	Nocturne No. 2 in E op. 62 (Frédéric Chopin):
	6. 2. Nocturne in E (Lento)
	Mazurka No. 1 in A minor op. 59 (Frédéric Chopin):
	7. Moderato
	Mazurka No. 2 in A flat op. 59 (Frédéric Chopin):
	8. Mazurka No.37 in A flat Op.59 No.2
	Mazurka No. 3 in F sharp minor op. 59 (Frédéric Chopin):
	9. Mazurka No.38 in F sharp minor Op.59 No.3
	Disc 2
	Polonaise No. 7 in A flat Op. 61 "Polonaise-Fantaisie" (Frédéric Chopin):
	1. Polonaise No. 7 In A Flat Major, Op. 61 "Fantaisie"
	Mazurka No. 1 in B major op. 63 (Frédéric Chopin):
	2. Mazurka No.39 in B Op.63 No.1
	Mazurka No. 2 in F minor op. 63 (Frédéric Chopin):
	3. Lento
	Mazurka No. 3 in C sharp minor op. 63 (Frédéric Chopin):
	4. Allegretto
	Waltz No. 6 in D flat Op. 64 No. 1 "Minute Waltz" (Frédéric Chopin):
	5. Molto vivace
	Waltz No. 2 in C sharp minor Op. 64 (Frédéric Chopin):
	6. Tempo giusto
	Waltz No. 3 in A flat Op. 64 (Frédéric Chopin):
	7. Moderato
	Mazurka No. 2 in G minor op. 67 (Frédéric Chopin):
	8. Mazurka No.45 in G minor Op.67 No.2
	Mazurka No. 4 in A minor op. 67 (Frédéric Chopin):
	9. Mazurka No.47 in A minor Op.67 No.4
	Cello and Piano Sonata in G minor op. 65 (Frédéric Chopin):
	10. 1. Allegro moderato
	11. 2. Scherzo (Allegro con brio)
	12. 3. Largo
	13. 4. Finale (Allegro)
	Mazurka No. 4 in F minor op. 68 (Frédéric Chopin):
	14. Mazurka No.51 in F minor Op.68 No.4

reviews

Danielle

The Times, London - Review By Geoff Brown

Lulled by the composer’s enduring popularity, the temptation for pianists and record producers might be to fling Chopin’s piano music on to a CD and expect the best. But the top musicians know Chopin as a tricky customer, easy to play badly. And the great Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, rarely encountered in concert or on disc, is the last artist to rush into any engagement. One of the pleasures of Deutsche Grammophon’s two-disc set is its precise focus. There’s nothing but late Chopin, from the last five years of his life, when he distilled and transcended his earlier effusions, opening up his art to the music of the future. We begin with the Sonata No 3 and end with his final piece, the F minor Mazurka. In between come other mazurkas, nocturnes and waltzes. And the Cello Sonata, played with Pavel Gomziakov — slightly unvarying in tone, but favoured by Pires for his playing’s austerity and nobility. Pires’s own approach is devoid of the flashy ornament, the excited rampage. Listen how subtly she handles the Sonata, highlighting the interior dramas, flecking its turbulent motions with heart-catching tiny rubatos. This is playing of total clarity and refinement. The performance of the Op 61 Polonaise-Fantasie is another wonder: poetic, inward-looking, cast in a spirit of reverie. Much of the recital’s mellow wisdom and melancholy stems from Chopin’s notes, composed when his physical strength was often under siege. But it’s hard not to feel that Pires’s interpretations have been deepened by her own recent experiences. Apart from the joy of making music, they have not been happy. Three years ago she left Portugal to live in Brazil, after bruising encounters with Portuguese authorities and national journalists over her plans to help disadvantaged and sexually abused children. She has also suffered health problems: the CD set is dedicated, in part, to “the entire cardiac surgery team of Salamanca University Hospital”. The transience of life and beauty; how keenly we feel this as the first chord of the B major Op 62 Nocturne subsides into its echo. But that’s just one of many magical moments in this CD release — for once presented by DG with the dignity that the music-making deserves. 6/3/2009 11:50 AM (GMT-08:00)

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