# Getting to know...Chopin



## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Well, I finally decided after 44 years of listening to classical music that it's time for me to get to know Chopin. (Frankly, some of the enthusiasm for his music on this site has had a part in this.)

Up till now, though I've had the occasional brush with Chopin's music (what listener with 44 years of experience couldn't?), the only pieces I've really gotten to know outside of famous short pieces like the Military Polonaise, are the "Funeral March" Sonata and the first Piano Concerto (both of which I like very much, btw).

It was interesting for me to face up to the reality of why I haven't acquainted myself with Chopin's music. I think it's because of the way he prepared and had his music published.

Let's say I really like the "Minute Waltz" (I would make the same argument with one of my favorite pieces of all time - Brahms' A minor Waltz). If it were part of a larger thing - say a suite of some kind - I would probably have added that suite to my collection long ago - and probably in different interpretations. 

But, because it was published as one of a set of three waltzes, and is usually recorded on an entire disc of Chopin waltzes, I just can't get up the enthusiasm for it. Anytime I encounter a recording of, let's say 20 Mazurkas, or 16 Polonaises, or 32 Waltzes, I beg off. In a set like that it is nearly impossible for me to listen with interest to the whole set. For the most part, I can't help myself from endless making of comparisions - "that's a good one"; "that's not as good"; "that's my least favorite"; "that's a bit better". It's kind of a boring way to listen to music, IMO.

But, I'm going to try to get over it.

First up - the Polonaises. I'm listening to the set by Garrick Ohlsson of the complete Chopin. As I comment, feel free to give me recommendations of your favorite versions of individual pieces if you want.

(But, be warned - this may take a while...)


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

If you're for Polonaises, just recently an exquisite recording by Rafał Blechacz (winner of the Chopin Competition) came out. It's the best I've heard. DG is the label. 

I hope you already have the legendary Krystian Zimerman recording of Ballades, Fantasia and Barcarolle (also on DG)? If not, well, you know where to make your second step. There is no better recording of the Ballades and there are no greater Chopin works than the Ballades.


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## Fugue Meister (Jul 5, 2014)

I'm a fan of the ballades, sonatas, and the 2cd piano concerto. The smaller pieces are nice but more ornamental than his serious works, to me anyway. I know many of you out there probably disagree and find much of the charm of Chopin in these smaller works but hey that's just my 2 cents.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Vesteralen said:


> Well, I finally decided after 44 years of listening to classical music that it's time for me to get to know Chopin. (Frankly, some of the enthusiasm for his music on this site has had a part in this.)
> 
> Up till now, though I've had the occasional brush with Chopin's music (what listener with 44 years of experience couldn't?), the only pieces I've really gotten to know outside of famous short pieces like the Military Polonaise, are the "Funeral March" Sonata and the first Piano Concerto (both of which I like very much, btw).
> 
> ...


You should listen to all the Chopin recorded by Cortot, Moiseiwitslch, Sofronitsky and Michelangeli. I know what you mean about complete sets etc. I'll just report that I found the first compete set of mazurkas that Rubinstein recorded (before the war) was something I enjoyed listening to all together - I can't explain why, and I can't guarantee the same will happen to you.

Similarly for Dino Ciani's set of nocturnes. It has something to do with the way Rubinstein and Ciani find an individual character for each mazurka/nocturne, so you don't get so saturated.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Aramis said:


> If you're for Polonaises, just recently an exquisite recording by Rafał Blechacz (winner of the Chopin Competition) came out. It's the best I've heard. DG is the label.


Finally got a chance to hear this disc. I was really impressed. Thanks for the recommendation.


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

I'm not too keen on Chopin, but from time to time I listen to him for sentimental reasons. I have four recordings:

Préludes, Ashkenazy
Etudes, Perahia
Nocturnes, Rubinstein
Piano Concertos, Kissin/Kitajenko/Moscow Phil

I can recommend the first three for their great sound (particularly important for Chopin, I guess) and, as far as I can tell, brilliant playing. The fourth one I can recommend since that is a recording of, I believe, a somewhat legendary concert by pianist Kissin at age 12.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Chopin is one of my favorites. I really dig this set by Ashkenazy:









Also, Alexandre Tharaud is a newer face showing some promise. He recorded the Waltzes, Preludes, and another disk with an assortment of some Mazurkas, Nocturnes, etc...


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

I'm not a Chopin expert, but I would recommend these two recordings to anyone:









*Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli - 10 Mazurkas; Prelude Op. 45; Ballade Op. 23; Scherzo Op. 31 (DG)*









*Ivan Moravec - Nocturnes (Nonesuch; also reissued recently on Supraphon)*

Breath-taking piano playing and transcendent music.


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

Chopin was my first love in classical music so I'll forever be immensely grateful for him. The Polonaises are great so I think that's a quality place to start. The Barcarolle is out of this world, as are the Ballades. Some of my other favorites are pretty much all the Nocturnes, lots of Mazurkas... I enjoy it all but these works I've mentioned are near the top of my favorites list.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

The Preludes, as one contiguous work (the way they were intended)

The Etudes, only a few pairs of these meant to be played together, the entirety of both books can then be listened to individually without loss of intent.

Ballade Nos. 1 & 4

The Mazurkas: a form he returned to time and time again, in which he often made the more daring or loopy modulations, almost as if visiting the form was like the composer going into the workshop.

I find in the Etudes and Preludes some of his most adventurous - daring music, which has him being lauded as that sort of composer. Like Debussy, I believe even in his own time and certainly now, the face of 'pretty' on the music has many people snookered into that is 'all Chopin is.'

(In our present time, with what we are now accustomed it is nigh impossible to hear either Chopin, Debussy, or many composers of earlier eras as at all daring or radical either in harmony or form.)


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Vesteralen said:


> Well, I finally decided after 44 years of listening to classical music that it's time for me to get to know Chopin. (Frankly, some of the enthusiasm for his music on this site has had a part in this.) ....
> 
> Anytime I encounter a recording of, let's say 20 Mazurkas, or 16 Polonaises, or 32 Waltzes, I beg off. In a set like that it is nearly impossible for me to listen with interest to the whole set. For the most part, I can't help myself from endless making of comparisions - "that's a good one"; "that's not as good"; "that's my least favorite"; "that's a bit better". It's kind of a boring way to listen to music, IMO.
> 
> But, I'm going to try to get over it.


Vesterian, When I glanced at your thread title, I initially thought that I could suggest some favorite pieces and favorite performances. But as you described how you listen, well -- I realized that I wasn't quite sure what to say. That's because your way of listening to music sounds like it is very different than mine. I get immersed, especially on first hearing, in trying to follow the unique flow of the work, the movements of individual voices, the chord progressions, the gradually emerging architecture as the piece moves along. Of course, hearing all that well really takes multiple hearings -- which is why I don't make judgments early on. While I may get an initial global impression, I don't give it much credence, especially if it is neutral or negative. I believe that if the artist has put significant thought and heart and craft into something, then that work's depths are unlikely to reveal themselves to me on first hearing. Hearing a new piece of music is like visiting a new city: I may spot a few familiar landmarks, but I need to allow myself time to get oriented, to appreciate the lay of the land, to begin to savor the local delights. I don't judge a city if I'm a tourist.

One thing that helps me is doing some reading. In the case of Chopin, I found Charles Rosen's _The Romantic Generation_ (Harvard University Press, 1998) a very helpful study. While Rosen's study is a broad exploration of the whole romantic movement, Chopin serves as the very heart of the book (three full chapters devoted to him). Strongly recommended:


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

Alypius said:


> Vesterian, When I glanced at your thread title, I initially thought that I could suggest some favorite pieces and favorite performances. But as you described how you listen, well -- I realized that I wasn't quite sure what to say. That's because your way of listening to music sounds like it is very different than mine. I get immersed, especially on first hearing, in trying to follow the unique flow of the work, the movements of individual voices, the chord progressions, the gradually emerging architecture as the piece moves along. Of course, hearing all that well really takes multiple hearings -- which is why I don't make judgments early on. Certainly, individual passages move me emotionally, but later I go back and try to figure out why: Is it in the music? or is it just in me (evoking a memory or a cluster of them or reminding me of other music) or is it somewhere in between the two? (Composers, after all, are trying to talk to hearers through their medium). While I may on occasion have an initial global impression of a work, I don't give it much credence, especially if it is neutral or negative. I believe that if the artist has put significant thought and heart and craft into something, then that work's depths are unlikely to reveal themselves to me on first hearing. Hearing a new piece of music is like visiting a new city: I may spot a few familiar landmarks, but I need to allow myself time to get oriented, to appreciate the lay of the land, to begin to savor the local delights. I don't judge a city if I'm a tourist.
> 
> One thing that helps me appreciate a composer is doing some reading. In the case of Chopin, I found Charles Rosen's _The Romantic Generation_ (Harvard University Press, 1998) a very helpful study. While Rosen's study is a broad exploration of the whole romantic movement, Chopin serves as the very heart of the book (three full chapters devoted to him). Strongly recommended:


I've been meaning to purchase this book as well because I already have Rosen's other book on the Classical Period. I have to say his writing is pretty advanced and I struggle to understand a lot of it as someone who hasn't studied much music theory. But I still enjoy parts of it and I'm sure as I continue to put the effort in, I'll eventually have a more clear understanding. Jan Swafford's books on the other hand are much easier to read for me.


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