Search - Frederic Chopin, Charles Dutoit, Montréal Symphony Orchestra :: Ultimate Chopin [Box Set]

Prime rib for the price of a burger

King Lemuel | Puyallup, WA | 04/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are new to classical, or if your classical collection has a big Chopin hole in it, this set is a great place to start. This is a budget product, but it features some of the all time great pianists from the 20th century who are also very famous for their Chopin performances.



Some of the "ultimate" packages can only paint a very partial picture of the composer(s). For example, the Philips Complete Mozart boxed sets have over 150 cds! Thus, a 5 cd Ultimate Mozart can present a survey plus a few of his important works at best. Beethoven and Bach also have a truck load of music. Chopin, on the other hand has around 13 to 17 cds en toto.



Chopin was as a composer who keyed on the piano keys. Thus, he only has about 3 lps worth of orchestrated compositions and these involve the piano! Most of his output is for solo piano. Without question, Chopin composed some of the most beautiful, if not THE most beautiful music for the piano. This 5 cd set covers much of these key compositions: The preludes, the ballads, the Waltzes, the Nocturnes, plus his piano concertos. Two of the all time great Chopin artists are featured prominently on these disks: Askenazy and Arrau. If you were ever looking for a "no brainer" classical purchase, this has got to be it"

Good Choice

John Sledziewski | Toronto, Canada | 08/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For collectors of classical music, this is a good choice to fill the Chopin category.

Disc one with Jorge Bolet is outstanding."

This is a Steal

K. Wong | Virginia, USA | 11/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A five CD-set for the price of one. That should normally be a good enough reason for most people to purchase this set. This set, however, is truly a steal. To start the set, on disc one you have Jorge Bolet performs the 2 Chopin piano concertos with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit. This is a solid performance and as far as I know, this performance is not available anywhere else. Disc 2 and 3 contain the complete Nocturnes and the Ballades performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy. These 2 discs alone worth more than the asking price. Ashkenazy is a wonderful Chopin expert and his Nocturnes are filled with romance. These two discs are top-notch and timeless recording. There simply are very few recordings that can surpass this one. Claudio Arrau gives you a classy performance on disc 4, containing the Preludes and the Impromptous. On disc 5, Zoltan Kocsis gives you a very good rendition of the Waltzes, slightly on the fast and bouncy side. So you have performances ranging from very good to exceptional and you are paying for only the price of one. Furthermore, the sound quality is of the highest standard, all recorded between 1974-88. So whether this is your first set of Chopin or your additional set, don't hesitate."