Search - Chopin, Katsaris :: Chopin: Famous Piano Works

ABSOLUTELY INTENSE AND INCREDIBLE CHOPIN PIANISM

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 07/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been an absolute fanatic about the Chopin Waltzes since I was young; my mother used to play them for me when I went to bed. So, I guess you might say they're "ingrained," permanently. During the period when I collected records, every new version that hit the market, I bought, regardless. Something in the blood. Imperative that I hear any and all interpretations. Yes, yes, yes. I agree. A monomania, but harmless. This, though, is how I came to know the playing of Cyprien Katsaris. I bought his Teldec rendition of the Chopin Waltzes; otherwise, I'd still be living in ignorance, and that would be a pity because his playing is, well, simply astonishing.



When I put the record on the turntable, I couldn't believe what I heard. The Chopin Waltzes I thought I knew inside and out, I didn't at all. As I sat mesmerized, excited, riveted, I realized I was suddenly "hearing" nuances, inner voices and notes I had never heard before. Ridiculous! How could this be? Yet, there it was. Underpinnings that went unnoticed all these years. It was an epiphany.



Naturally, when Teldec released the CD, I bought it--- and the clarity, insight and pianism of Katsaris became that much more intense, and, yet, not at the expense of tenderness, either. Plenty of that to go around in these performances.



The Ballades and Scherzi, as well, share the titillating Katsaris eccentricity that transforms the works anew at every turn.



Enthusiastically recommend, especially if you love this music.... and thought you knew how it should be played.



[Running time--- CD 1: 62:26 CD 2: 73:03]"

Some very interesting interpretations

Melvyn M. Sobel | 02/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard selections from Katsaris's recording of the Chopin waltzes about 20 years ago on the radio in Germany and ran out the next day to buy the record. I had a hard time finding it, because everywhere I went, the shop clerks told me that they had sold out that day to other people who had heard the same broadcast. Whether or not you agree with his sometimes startling and very personal interpretations of some of these old warhorses, I'm sure you'll find them well worth listening to. In the waltz in C#m in particular, he "finds" some inner voices that make the repetitive passages lose any monotony they might ever have had. I love these readings!"