Chopin: The Complete Nocturnes
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Composer: Frederic ChopinPerformer: Bernard D'Ascoli
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-04-25
Music Label: Divine Art
Free Music Notes for Chopin: The Complete Nocturnes
Free Music Review: No, this is definitely Chopin...
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm not sure whether Mr. Ding doesn't like jazz pianists or French pianists, but he obviously has a rather blinding disdain for this particular French jazz pianist.
I, too, purchased this album (and d'Ascoli's other Chopin releases, including the Ballades on Nimbus) based on Andrew Klein's reviews of the Divine Art/Athene albums, and I would still have to agree with Mr. Klein's assessments. In fact, I was quite surprised to find so negative review; I'm writing this review solely for the purpose of balancing the scales.
While I would have to say that no single pianist is the last word in these works, not even Arrau or Moravec, d'Ascoli obviously knows and loves these pieces, and his cycle is an excellent contribution to the (thankfully) ever-growing body of Chopin recordings. The nocturnes, in particular, respond very flexibly to different, "personal" touches, and d'Ascoli definitely has a "lover's touch." He lends his own sense of rubato and shading to the proceedings, and these adjustments are not careless or messy at all -- in fact, they demonstrate a very clear understanding of the pieces.
My only complaint (and even then not enough to discourage exploration) is that the recording has a little too much "air" around the (quite resonant) piano. While I'm not exactly a fan of under-the-lid techniques, I think that these pieces would benefit from a perspective that's a _little_ closer than what we're offered here -- my ideal "ambience" would be akin to Arrau or Rubinstein (the 1960s set).
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