Search - Frederic Chopin, Otto Ackermann, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra :: The Complete Chopin Recordings

One of the greatest recordings of anything - ever

Mr. Matthew J. Williams | Sydney, NSW Australia | 03/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So many of the reviews on Amazon are raves it is difficult to pile on sufficient superlatives where they are really in order.



The first CD here is the same recording of waltzes that appeared early in EMI's great recordings of the century series - and this is one of the best in even that distinguished series. This disc is one of the all-time highlights of the gramophone - we're talking the league of the Callas/De Sabata Tosca; of Jacqueline DuPre's Elgar Cello Concerto; of Kubelik's Die Meistersinger. This is a universally critically acclaimed disc - Penguin Rosette and Key Recording, Gramophone Top 100 CDs of all time and top rating.



Quite simply, sparkling, faultless, self-effacing piano playing. Lipatti plays like a true gentleman - not aloof but full of the simultaneous warmth and poise that speak of genuine class.



The second disc contains still more treasures - Chopin's Piano Sonata No.3 and first piano concerto, with a couple of Etudes to close. All are vintage Lipatti and sheer delights.



EMI's remastering brings them all up marvellously, though of course the limitations of dynamic range are most keenly felt in the piano concerto - which also has the disadvantage of being the only item here not produced by Walter Legge.



A slight correction to the previous review - Lipatti lived 1917-1950 (so he was 33 when he died, not born in 1933). The Waltzes and Piano concerto are taken from his last year, before he succumbed to leukaemia - a tragic loss to the piano world comparable to the death of Fritz Wunderlich for singing. One can only imagine the delights taken from us... don't let those we do have escape you!"

Go ahead, far beyond the graves!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 10/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection of Chopin works is an absolute imperative for every person who really loves the music. Despite the painful and very brief existence of Dinu Lipatti (1933-1950), the destiny could not tame the artistic legacy of this sublime artist of the keyboard. His name will be shining in the reduced universe of supreme genius of the piano though the years and even centuries.



My most sincere acknowledgment for the Sound Engineers who made possible this outstanding remastering process."

Lipatti the Sublime

Pattie Richards | St. Petersburg, FL United States | 03/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What can I say about Dinu Lipatti? His playing is like the light that shines through a piece of stained glass. It illuminates everything; it's transparent, effortless, and true."