Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. 1. Allegro maestoso
2. 2. Romance (Larghetto)
3. 3. Rondo (Vivace)

Disc 2:

1. 1. Maestoso
2. 2. Larghetto
3. 3. Allegro vivace

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2295 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-18
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .27 pounds
• Running time: 82 minutes

Customer Reviews

Worth its weight in gold, and then some...definitive perfection...
Being an avid fan of Chopin's piano concertos, I own about 20 or so different versions, and this one is a rather recent jewel of a find...as another reviewer said "almost too perfect", but I'd like to add it really IS perfect in many ways. Not only is the sound quality excellent, the music itself is so beautifully performed, with the subjective "right" balance between the orchestra and pianist (Zimerman outdoes himself here, really). But the most important being that Zimerman is so in tune with the emotions of the concertos, its cadences are remarkably sharp when needed, remarkably sad when needed. It's absolute perfection.

If you want just one version, this should be it. I'm not a musical expert, just a very serious musical fan, and to me, this is without a doubt, the perfect "definitive" recording of Chopin's exquisite concertos.

In my humble opinion, definitive.
I was lucky enough to see this particular combination of Zimmerman and his specially formed orchestra live at Birmingham's Symphony Hall, and was exceedingly impressed, and have been no less so by this recording. He brought so many new qualities to 2 pieces which I already new well, and made me look at them in a completely different way. The E minor is my particular favorite, so I will cover that in my review. I can see how some would see his phrasing and use of rubato as being a little too much, particularly in the 2nd mvt and the more expressive parts of the 1st, but as far as I am concerned, it merely adds another dimension to this already sublime piece of music. And his enthusiastic and joyful approach to the krakoviak rondo transforms it from a standard rumbustuous finale into something that provides a complete contrast to the first 2 mvts, and is a fitting end to a wonderful interpretation of this piece, a result that one feels must be aided by the shared Polish origins of Chopin and this soloist-and-ensemble team. All in all, quite fantstic, and very individual.

Almost too perfect.
This recording is perfect. It's actually almost too perfect. Every phrase seems to have been examined and polished with such care that an element of spontaneous creativity (ala Argerich) is missing. It is as if Dr.Zimerman has taken a scalpel to these concertos, taken them to pieces, and put them all back together again. The piece is dead, but Zimerman knows everything about it. Having said that, one can only marvel at the playing of the select polish orchestra and Zimerman himself. Perhaps this is how the music would have sounded to Chopin in his head, but I doubt he would have played it in the same way.