Review: Rafal Blechacz: Frederic Chopin, Complete Preludes, 2 Nocturnes

I picked up 2007 release from Deutsche Grammophon with great excitement earlier this year. As the first Polish native in 30 years to win the 2005 International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition, Mr. Blechacz caused great excitement, both in his native country and around the world. He followed this up with several well-reviewed recitals and signed a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

My initial impression was highly favourable. Mr. Blechacz shines in the more rapid passages and technically he sounds competent. However, somewhat to my own astonishment, towards the end of the disc, my attention wandered away from the music.

Repeat screenings have diminished my pleasure in this recording, and I have not made it through the entire disc at a single sitting. Largely this stems from a difference in my interpretation of Chopin’s works. To me, Chopin should be fluid and lyrical, at times passionate, vital or pensive. Percussive is not a word I associate with Chopin, and yet many of these Preludes have a grating, forced quality to them (Prelude 4, 9, 20, 22, 24).

The slower Preludes have a lugubrious character, the result of a muddiness from the lower registers (Prelude 2), and missing notes in some of the higher chords (Prelude 6). I found it difficult to distinguish the details of the chord progressions and lower voices, and in other areas, the music loses its forward impetus, bogging down in a haze of sound. I cannot tell if the piano and recording setup was to Mr. Blechacz’s satisfaction, but the sound and voicing is audibly uneven. I disagree with some of the tempi chosen, particularly 4, 6 and 15.

That said, many Preludes continue to enthrall (1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 16), and there is much to appreciate in this new musician. Hopefully his interpretive skills will grow alongside the technical promise that this recording shows.

On a more practical note: I would download this CD from any vendor of your choosing (Deutsche Grammophon, iTunes, what have you), but the flaws in at least a third of the tracks prevent me from recommending a purchase of this in CD format. While it is worth the time to listen to these tracks, and is a fine debut effort, I do not consider this a definitive recording of the Preludes.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 at 15:22:21 and is filed under Compact Discs, Opinion, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.