[richidoo]

"What classical music are you NOT listening to, luv?

Haha, Good one Scott! 
I'll pass on opera, thank you very much.
Well maybe Maria Callas now and then, and I like most of the overtures. 

Why, why, why can't I "get" Chopin?

Any ideas?

Try some of the young whippersnappers like Ingrid Fliter, Yulianna Avdeeva, Lise de la Salle, Jan Lisieki - all Chopin experts who I really like. I like Rubenstein too, but a little (or a lot) youthful irreverence can sometimes breath new life to an old warhorse.

[S Clark]

Finally I heard the much more forceful (and rhythmically driven) Pollini performances and I was sold.  After listening to Pollini as my gateway to Chopin, after a while I noticed that I was more open to other pianists.

Wonderful that Pollini led you to an appreciation of Chopin.  So many play his works with what I'll call a Romantic excess.  I only have one Pollini... the preludes.   But he plays them at such tempo that I get zero feeling for the music.... just so different from how I used to play them (honestly I hated that rendition so much, I've never bought another Pollini vinyl).  Over the years, I keep going back to a pianist that didn't do much for me in my younger days.  Rubenstein.   I also like Brailowsky, but only have his mono recordings.  As a young player I though no one could match Horowitz.  Now I find him occasionally sterile. 

Then you have someone like Wang      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSpf9bKK_Zk
Listen to her #1 and compare, if you can. to Pollini.  They are night and day... and I always played it much like Wang. 
But I hate her rendition of #2... the right hand is so pianissimo as to not have an impact... unforgivable in the last two measures. 
Then she completely nails #4....  even if I like a slower pace with more timing variation.   

Musical taste is clearly something as individual as our voice. 

[Tyson]

Wonderful that Pollini led you to an appreciation of Chopin.  So many play his works with what I'll call a Romantic excess.  I only have one Pollini... the preludes.   But he plays them at such tempo that I get zero feeling for the music.... just so different from how I used to play them (honestly I hated that rendition so much, I've never bought another Pollini vinyl).  Over the years, I keep going back to a pianist that didn't do much for me in my younger days.  Rubenstein.   I also like Brailowsky, but only have his mono recordings.  As a young player I though no one could match Horowitz.  Now I find him occasionally sterile. 

Then you have someone like Wang      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSpf9bKK_Zk
Listen to her #1 and compare, if you can. to Pollini.  They are night and day... and I always played it much like Wang. 
But I hate her rendition of #2... the right hand is so pianissimo as to not have an impact... unforgivable in the last two measures. 
Then she completely nails #4....  even if I like a slower pace with more timing variation.   

Musical taste is clearly something as individual as our voice. 

I think the specific recording that did it for me was Pollini doing the Polonaises.  Just absolute fire.  The Preludes I actually liked Argerich in from pretty early on.  Again, I was in my mid 20s at the time and was really looking for something high intensity with a lot of passion.  As I got older, I mellowed quite a bit.  I too keep coming back to Rubinstein as an absolute master, but understated and less flashy.  Took me a lot longer to appreciate him. 

Re: Yuja Wang, I sort of have a love-hate relationship with her.  Love her dresses.  Hate her playing.  Haha, just kidding! 

Actually I really do like her fashion.  I find her playing a little skittish.  Not just in Chopin either. 

Other pianists that I've really liked over the years include Pires (Nocturnes), Zimerman (Ballades & Scherzo's), Ashkenazy (Waltzes) and I'm still searching for someone that does a really outstanding job on the Mazurkas.  Now that I think about it, Rubinstein is actually pretty good in the Mazurkas. 

[S Clark]

Yeap.  Mazurkas?  Rubenstein.   But he just can't rock a short skirt like Yuja. 

[eljr]

With all sincerity, I have no idea.  But this honestly interests me.  Do you mind if I PM you to discuss it further?

Please do.

[eljr]

François Couperin: Les Apothéoses

Jordi Savall

Release Date: 25th Aug 2009
Catalogue No: ADE042
Label: Alia Vox
Series: Astrée Digital Edition
Length: 46 minutes

[eljr]

There are many times I don't 'get' a composer. 

I think this true of most of us at some time. I recall not getting Mozart for a long period. Mozart!
I feel Chopin must be the same, some day a light bulb may just go off.
Then, again as you say, on first listen you knew you loved the composer. Bach and Philip Glass jump to mind for me.

[eljr]

The Chopin Project: Complete Chamber Music

Camille Thomas (cello), Daniel Hope (violin), Julien Brocal (piano), Julien Libeer (piano), Lucas Debargue (piano)
Release Date: 28th Apr 2023
Catalogue No: 4858596
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Length: 84 minutes
Works
Chopin: Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
Chopin: Grand Duo for Cello and Piano (on themes from Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable)
Chopin: Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in C, Op. 3
Chopin: Piano Trio in G minor Op. 8

[eljr]

Yeap.  Mazurkas?  Rubenstein.   But he just can't rock a short skirt like Yuja.

She does make the most of her sex appeal with her performance attire. (I have often pondered the cost of them all)

To see her walk down a street she is very ordinary looking. Amazing how women, especially young women, can transform themselves at will.

[S Clark]

The Chopin Project: Complete Chamber Music

Camille Thomas (cello), Daniel Hope (violin), Julien Brocal (piano), Julien Libeer (piano), Lucas Debargue (piano)
Release Date: 28th Apr 2023
Catalogue No: 4858596
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Length: 84 minutes
Works
Chopin: Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
Chopin: Grand Duo for Cello and Piano (on themes from Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable)
Chopin: Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in C, Op. 3
Chopin: Piano Trio in G minor Op. 8

Interesting.... personally, I don't think Chopin is nearly as effective when composing for more than the solo piano.   And  this recording is not in my library.  Listening to the Polonaise duet.... reminds me of Brahms, and not in a good way.  But it is always about what speaks to you. 
I like his more intimate works... 
There is a recording by David Fung called Evening Conversations on Yarlung Records.  It may be the best mic-ed recording I own.  The sound is what you hear when you play a piece on a mid sized grand in someones large living room.  That's Chopin at his best... in my experience. 

[ArthurDent]

           

         W.A. Mozart - Herbert Von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Fritz Lehan, Consortium Musicum , Yehudi Menuhin, Bath Festival Orchestra – Die Schönsten Serenaden     '78, German box set pressing, LP 1

[eljr]

Ingrid Fliter (piano)

Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jun Märkl

True, she sails perilously close to over-sentimentalising the opening Romanza...but Fliter plays with grace and heartfelt sincerity - abetted by some lovely duetting with the SCO's bassoonist... — Gramophone Magazine, March 2014 More…
Release Date: 24th Feb 2014
Catalogue No: CKD455
Label: Linn
Length: 73 minutes
Editor's Choice
Gramophone Magazine
March 2014
Editor's Choice
Shortlisted - Concerto
Gramophone Awards
2014
Shortlisted - Concerto

Presto Recordings of the Year
Finalist 2014     

[eljr]

Interesting.... personally, I don't think Chopin is nearly as effective when composing for more than the solo piano.   And  this recording is not in my library.  Listening to the Polonaise duet.... reminds me of Brahms, and not in a good way.  But it is always about what speaks to you. 
I like his more intimate works... 
There is a recording by David Fung called Evening Conversations on Yarlung Records.  It may be the best mic-ed recording I own.  The sound is what you hear when you play a piece on a mid sized grand in someones large living room.  That's Chopin at his best... in my experience.

That may well be my problem. I find the piano harsh generally.

[eljr]

Luna

Anna Lapwood (organ)

This is a highly considered collection of performances, with close attention paid to phrasing, articulation and voicing. Lapwood has successfully delivered an album that cements her status as... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2023, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…
Release Date: 29th Sep 2023
Catalogue No: 19658831402
Label: Sony
Length: 73 minutes

[eljr]

Anna Lapwood - Midnight Sessions at the Royal Albert Hall

Anna Lapwood (organ)

Release Date: 21st Apr 2023
Catalogue No: G010004942280W
Label: Sony
Length: 16 minutes

[eljr]

Philip Glass: Dodecagon

Arturo Stalteri (piano

Release Date: 9th Jun 2023
Catalogue No: OMM0165
Label: Orange Mountain
Runtime: 60 minutes

[eljr]

Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Archora & Aion

Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Eva Ollikainen

In effect, both works demonstrate the inseparability of time and space – and their key lies finally in Thorvaldsdottir’s extraordinarily subtle, constantly shifting details of foreground and... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2023, 5 out of 5 stars More…
Release Date: 16th Jun 2023
Catalogue No: DSL-92268
Label: Dorian Sono Luminus
Length: 61 minutes     

[eljr]

Kronos Quartet - Kronos on Stage (Black Angels / Ghost Opera) [DVD]

Runtime: 56 minutes

[simoon]

Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Archora & Aion

Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Eva Ollikainen

In effect, both works demonstrate the inseparability of time and space – and their key lies finally in Thorvaldsdottir’s extraordinarily subtle, constantly shifting details of foreground and... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2023, 5 out of 5 stars More…
Release Date: 16th Jun 2023
Catalogue No: DSL-92268
Label: Dorian Sono Luminus
Length: 61 minutes     

I'm usually not a fan of Spectralism, but for me, Anna Þorvaldsdóttir is an exception.

I own a few of her CD's, and they get fairly regular play. Really haunting and beautiful stuff.

[FullRangeMan]

Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Archora & Aion

Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Eva Ollikainen

In effect, both works demonstrate the inseparability of time and space – and their key lies finally in Thorvaldsdottir’s extraordinarily subtle, constantly shifting details of foreground and... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2023, 5 out of 5 stars More…
Release Date: 16th Jun 2023
Catalogue No: DSL-92268
Label: Dorian Sono Luminus
Length: 61 minutes     

How is Naxos sound quality now?