Search - Frederic Chopin, Garrick Ohlsson :: Garrick Ohlsson - The Complete Chopin Piano Works Vol. 7 ~ Waltzes

TIMELESS WALTZES

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 05/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of my earliest childhood recollections is of the music of Chopin drifting up the stairway to my bedroom. My mother always played the Waltzes for me at bedtime and, thus, laid the foundation for the love of these beautiful pieces. Later in life, when vinyl records were the only game in town, I happened to be the Classical Record Manager for a local Sam Goody's store. Ah, what joy! And all this, too, for $92 a week, net. But! I got first crack at all the new records, and this was worth it. What I couldn't find where I worked, I found in New York City, where friends and I had great times scouring the record stores for "bargains." Records could be purchased for as little as 79 cents. Wonderful times, these. At any rate, over the years I collected every available version of the Chopin Waltzes... from a Seraphim disc of Cortot's 1934 edition to a "digital" version by Aleexev--- all-in-all over 33 different LPs. I even managed to find the early 50s record mom had played (Brailowsky) in a used record store. So. When it comes to the Chopin Waltzes, I feel secure in comparing differing versions.... and opining. I bought the Ohlsson Waltzes fairly recently at, of all places, a pretty neat used bookstore called Stan's Book Bin in Oceanside, New York, not far from where I live. I had traded some books and had a few bucks credit. Ordinarily, nowadays, I wouldn't spend the required [money] on a new CD unless I absolutely couldn't live without it---- and most I can live without. So, I figured, what the heck, I'll try the Ohlsson, and what a marvelous piece of luck this was! This performance is so good, so heartfelt (w/o being heart-on-the-sleeve], so understanding, genuine and beautiful, I think it's the best Chopin Waltzes I've ever heard. [The only other versions I own are those of Katsaris, Anda and Luisada, and I love these, too, but for different reasons.] There's no need, really, in describing each waltz here [how dull that would be!]. Know this, though, that Ohlsson brings each and every waltz to life. He's tender; he's playful; he's amazing. You simply must hear these waltzes the way he plays them, to feel something.... different.... a depth of soul unlike anything you've ever experienced before. And, as if his playing of all 19 waltzes wasn't enough, he has thrown in a magnificent, even if of dubious origin, 20th waltz. A beauty. Had I to do over again, knowing what I know, I would purchase this CD for [the cost]---- and this speaks worlds for Ohlsson's performance. The sound, pleasing, warm, with a touch of ambience [nothing alarming], also helps to make this one hell of a haunting CD.



[Running time: 71:07]"