COMPOSERS: Chopin
LABELS: Philips Solo
WORKS: Piano Concerto No. 1; Piano Concerto No. 2
PERFORMER: Claudio Arrau (piano) LPO/Eliahu Inbal
CATALOGUE NO: 456 657-2 ADD 1971/72
Noble, searching performances by one of this century’s most profoundly thoughtful and resourceful pianists. Just occasionally there’s a whiff of rhythmic stagnation, a square phrase that slips through the net (almost always aided and abetted by Inbal), but these are richly satisfying performances nevertheless, though some may take exception to Arrau’s characteristically flexible approach to melodic sculpturing.
His sound is beautiful throughout, rounded yet kaleidoscopic in its colouristic variety, and the engineers have captured it admirably. The CD transfers are exemplary. Jeremy Siepmann