Ronald Smith plays Chopin, Vol. 2

On this CD:

1. Nocturne for piano in D flat major, Op. 27/2, CT 155
Composed by Fryderyk Chopin
Performed by Ronald Smith

2. Etude for piano in C minor ("Revolutionary"), Op. 10/12, CT 25
Composed by Fryderyk Chopin
Performed by Ronald Smith

3. Trois nouvelles études, for piano, KK IIb/3, CT 38-40
Composed by Fryderyk Chopin
Performed by Ronald Smith

4. Etudes (12) for piano, Op. 25, CT 26-37
Composed by Fryderyk Chopin
Performed by Ronald Smith

Ronald Smith plays Chopin, Vol. 2, Music, Fryderyk Chopin, Ronald Smith, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Collection of Etudes, Studies, or Exercises for Keyboard, Etude for Keyboard, Keyboard, Nocturne for Keyboard

Average customer rating:

A Disappointment

Ronald Smith plays Chopin, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Apr UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music
Mazurkas | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music
Polonaises | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music
All Works by Chopin | Chopin, Frédéric | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Ballads | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Nocturnes | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Barcarolles | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000026C43
Release Date: 1999-10-26

Customer Reviews:

A Disappointment.......2004-01-02

I have long had a positive regard for pianist Ronald Smith primarily because he was one of the early pianists to record much of the music of one of my 'guilty pleasures,' the piano music of Charles-Henri-Valentin Alkan, the only-recently-popular French contemporary of Chopin. He even wrote a biography of the composer. I'd not heard much of his playing of other composers. I expected this CD, one of two he has made of the music of Chopin, to be something special. But it isn't really. Although there are flashes of beauty that make you catch your breath, particularly in the feather-light figurations in, say, the C-sharp Minor Scherzo, Op. 39, there seems to be a lack of backbone in these readings. This is not to say he doesn't play assertively at times, as in the Polonaise-Fantaisie in A Flat, Op. 61. And there are some good readings here, as of the Tarentelle in A Flat, Op. 43 and the C-minor Nocturne, Op. 48, No. 1. But overall it's as if he were noodling his way through the program, his mind elsewhere. Any sense of architecture, any notion of reaching an ultimate goal is pretty much missing. There is a kind of underpowered lack of commitment that I found dispiriting. His piano is imperfectly tuned as well, alas.

I wish I could be more positive, but I can't recommend this disc.

Scott Morrison

Ronald Smith plays Chopin, Vol. 2
Average customer rating:
Ronald Smith plays Chopin, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Apr UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Chopin | Chopin, Frédéric | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Nocturnes | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005TSQ5
Release Date: 2002-02-26

Tracks:

Nocturne No.8 In D Flat. Opus 27 No. 2
No.1 Allegro
No.2 Allegro
No.3 Lento, Ma Non Troppo
No.4 Presto
No.5 Vivace
No.6 Andante
No.7 Vivace
No.8 Allegro
No.9 Allegro Molto Agitato
No.10 Vivace Assai
No.11 Allegretto
No.12 Allegro Con Fuoco
3 Nouvelles Etudes, Opus Posth.: Etude In A Flat Allegretto
3 Nouvelles Etudes, Opus Posth.: Etude In F Minor Andantino
3 Nouvelles Etudes, Opus Posth.: Etude In D Flat Allegretto Grazioso
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.1 Allegro Sostenuto
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.2 Presto
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.3 Allegro
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.4 Agitato
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.5 Vivace
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.6 Allegro
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.7 Lento
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.8 Vivace
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.9 Allegro Assai
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.10 Allegro Con Fuoco
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.11 Lento - Allegro Con Brio
12 Etudes Opus 25: No.12 Allegro Molto Con Fuoco

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

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