Chopin Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2

Martha Argerich /Montreal Symphony Orchestra / Charles Dutoit (Warner Classics)

Gramophone Awards 1999 - Concerto Winner

'Dutoit... sets off Argerich's charisma to an exceptional degree. Argerich's light burns brighter than ever. Rarely in their entire history have the Chopin concertos received performances of a more teasing allure, brilliance and idiosyncrasy.'

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Chopin Mazurkas

Arthur Rubinstein (Naxos)

'Rubinstein's Mazurkas are equally the stuff of legends. Chopin's most subtle and confessional diary, they transcend their humble origins and become in Rubinstein's hands an ever-audacious series of miniatures extending from the neurasthenic to the radiant'

Chopin Mazurkas, Etudes & Waltzes

Ignaz Friedman (Naxos)

'Ignaz Friedman's elegance and aplomb demand a book rather than a review. In his tantalizing selection of Chopin Mazurkas his inimitable brio allows for both a sense of peasant origins (that slight lift on the second beat, that light or emphatic - according to context - stress on the third) and the rarest sense of fantasy and idealization.'

Chopin Cello Sonata 

Mistislav Rostropovich vc / Martha Argerich pno (DG)

'What a combination of temperaments! Impulsive in spirit, generous in response to the emotional charge of this music, but they are precise and absolutely focused in their presentation of it.'

Chopin Etudes 

Vladimir Ashkenazy (pno)

'This is very exciting playing, completely assured technically and with plenty of poetic feeling when called for. By any standards the quality is good... the sound is immediate and well-rounded, and preferable to that on most of the rival discs.'

Chopin Ballades & Scherzos

Stephen Hough pno (Hyperion)

Gramophone Magazine Disc of the Month - May 2004

'This is astonishing piano playing; Chopin interpretation that, at its best, fully measuring up to the greatness of these pieces. Stephen Hough's accounts offer plenty of refreshment to spirit and senses.'

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Chopin Waltzes 

Zoltan Kocsis pno (Philips)

'There is youthful elan and caprice in plenty ... Slower tempo brings better things, notably in Op . 34 No.2 in A minor and Op. 69 No. I in A flat. I also enjoyed most of the less frequently heard posthumous waltzes'

Chopin Nocturnes

Maria João Pires pno (DG)

Gramophone Magazine - Re-issue of the Month March 2007

'Passion rather than insouciance is Pires's keynote.
Here is an intensity and drama that scorn all complacent salon or drawing-room expectations.
How she relishes Chopin's central storms, creating a vivid and spectacular yet unhistrionic contrast with all surrounding serenity or "embalmed darkness"'

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Chopin Piano Sonatas 2&3

Murray Perahia pno (Sony)

'This is splendid playing. I enjoyed the actual tone quality of the recording far more than the old Rubinstein recording, and just as much as Vásáry’s, which is an example of DG’s most mellow sound. It is at once poised and poetic, unselfconscious, inevitable-sounding. But Perahia’s performance is a marvellously stimulating'

Chopin Preludes

Behzod Abduraimov pno (Alpha)

Gramophone Awards 2021 - Shortlist, Piano

Gramophone Editor's Choice - January 2021

'Each ‘picture’ in the gallery unfolds its own enticing universe, vividly elucidated by the most genial and compelling of tour guides...Abduraimov’s visionary interpretation is on a par with the very finest. His secret ingredient is ...an ability constantly to vary timbre and texture without damaging the natural flow...All in all, a serious candidate for a benchmark recording, capping a most distinguished recital.'