Chopin: Piano Concerto No 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Chopin: Piano Concerto No 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

The first recording of the new Polish National Chopin Edition of the First Piano Concerto.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 30, 2011

2010 brought us the bicentenary of Fryderyk Chopin’s birth and with it a glut of new recordings celebrating the composer-pianist’s incredible contributions to the art of keyboard music. Along with the expected short form Chopin offerings, we got new performances of both of Chopin’s Piano Concerti, but this new Naxos audio only Blu-ray is the first performance to utilize the new Polish National Chopin Edition. For generations after Chopin’s death, his orchestral technique was often considered inadequate, rightly or wrongly. Numerous editors came along who attempted to “fix” and/or “spruce up” Chopin’s original intention. There aren’t huge differences in this new Edition, but one assumes we’re getting back to the actual composer’s desires here, and the results are often bracing. Both of Chopin’s piano concertos have come under considerable criticism for not being very innovative and for not exploiting the dialectic between the piano and orchestra very well, and truth be told, there is a certain veracity to those statements. What Chopin perhaps lacked in a fresh approach to the concerto genre is more than made up in his brilliant pianistic flourishes, keyboard decorations which make both of his concerti among the most demanding for any piano player. The recently released filmed concert of the Chopin Piano Concertos was a fascinating study in contrasts between Evgeny Kissin’s bombastically florid approach toward the Second Concerto, while his fellow Russian Nikolai Demidenko took a decidedly more measured, introspective approach with the First. This audio only Blu-ray featuring Uzbekitsan’s Eldar Nebolsin falls somewhere in between, with a deliberative and meditative subtext often interrupted with sudden, dashing virtuoso garlands that blossom out of the placid foundation Neboisin and conductor Antoni Wit (who also conducted on the Kissin-Demidenko release) craft here.

Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra might be presumed to be the “go-to” conductor and orchestra when it comes to Chopin. Although the composer had a French father and lived most of his life in Paris, he of course always associated himself with Poland and he has become that nation’s most iconic composer. Wit always brings a stolid musicianship to his readings, and he certainly does that again with this outing, but one wonders if perhaps he’s too stolid at times, with an overly careful and reserved approach that perhaps only highlights Chopin’s conservative use of the orchestra. It’s especially notable in the first movement of this concerto, which has that insanely long orchestral prelude before the piano’s first entrance, which here seems to stretch on for even longer than usual. This is actually more than just a case of lugubrious tempi, it seems to be a deliberate attempt to infuse this interpretation with a more strict approach, something that actually is a rather nice contrast to the free floating piano which is so central to this concerto's flavor.

Nebolsin is obviously a very facile pianist and he’s best with the more lyrical aspects of this concerto, which means once the piano actually does enter in the first movement, he handles the Maestoso section quite capably. Even better is the second Romanza movement, which Nebolsin seems preternaturally better equipped to play. It’s fascinating to contrast his rhythmically halting approach with the Rondo which caps this concerto with Kissin’s “bat out of hell” playing which rarely if ever takes a pianistic breath. Nebolsin isn't flashy the same way that Kissin is, but he really isn't completely "interior" either in the way that Demidenko revealed in his performance of the First. It's an interesting middle ground which Nebolsin walks here, and it may make this performance more easily accessible to new listeners of this piece, if indeed there are still any out there in the hallowed halls of classical music fandom.

Perhaps even more of a draw on this Blu-ray than the main program is the inclusion of two lesser known and much more infrequently performed pieces, The Fantasia on Polish Airs, Op. 13, and the Grand Rondeau de Concert, also known as the Krakowiak, Op. 14. Like both piano concerti, these are teenage compositions of Chopin, made to show off his own pianistic skills for both his parlor and professional concert performances and Nebolin crafts two wonderfully ornamented recitals here. Listen to those opening notes of the “Introduction” of the Fantasia and you might think for a moment you’re being transported to Mussogsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Both of these “lesser” pieces actually show Chopin in a considerably more innovative light than either of the piano concerti really do, with the composer stretching the bounds of then accepted structural norms, despite of course the rubric “Fantasia” usually denoting a composer can do pretty much whatever he pleases.

Chopin's orchestral output, whether his piano concerti or his other, smaller scale orchestral pieces, have too often been dismissed as "also rans" in terms of the composer's oeuvre, which to be fair does of course focus more on solo piano pieces. Though Chopin's 200th anniversary has now passed, perhaps this glut of new recordings can help modern day listeners (and critics) to more effectively reevaluate Chopin's contribution to classical music as a whole, and not just to the piano repertoire. While it can't be argued that Chopin was not the flashy orchestrator or indeed even the Herculean pianist that some of his contemporaries were, his kinder and gentler approach toward both his favorite instrument as well as the orchestra as a whole deserve to be treated with respect and compassion, two things which are offered in abundance on this new audio Blu-ray.

Chopin: Piano Concerto No 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For the record, while this is indeed an audio-only Blu-ray, there is an onscreen menu (via an MPEG-2 codec in 1.78:1 for you techie completists out there) which allows you to toggle from track to track and also choose which audio output you want by either toggling or using the colored buttons on your remote.

Chopin: Piano Concerto No 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Naxos has released these performances both on CD as well as high definition audio disc Blu-rays. As with other Naxos audio only releases, we're presented with 24-bit 88.2kHz recordings which are offered in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 and LPCM 2.0 formats. I was rather surprised to see the User Review here proclaiming these recordings (or at least the 5.0) "muddy." What I experienced was decent to very good clarity, but an unusual lack of amplitude on the 5.0 mix, as if the microphones had not been well placed to capture all of the instruments. Whether this is a case of inadequate microphone placement or simply inartful mixdown is anyone's guess, but I personally wouldn't call the results "muddy," as indeed the piano sounds crystalline and very appealing and the orchestra, while more "massed" sounding than usual due to less space in the recording, is certainly clear. The keepcase insert notes that these were recorded in "Warsaw Philharmonic Hall," which one assumes is the same as the "National Philharmonic Hall" where the Kissin-Demidenko recordings were made. Comparing the two side by side my personal experience is that the only real difference here is one of amplitude and the relative balance between the orchestra and piano. Both recordings are clear and precise, with excellent articulation and reproduction. Dynamic range is somewhat muted on this audio only Blu-ray by comparison with the Kissin-Demidenko, but the differences are not really all that dramatic. Like our User Review, some listeners may prefer to go with the narrower soundfield of the LPCM 2.0 track, as that concentrates the sound and may therefore create a more fulsome balance between soloist and orchestra. My one perhaps facetious piece of advice on either of these tracks is to simply turn them up a little bit to be able to hear more clearly "into" the recording.

Chopin: Piano Concerto No 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray.

Chopin: Piano Concerto No 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It can be expensive to be a classical music lover. It was back in the halcyon days of the long playing record and it became so again at the dawn of the compact disc age. Now Blu-ray consumers are shelling out premium bucks to get new collections of high definition releases, whether or not those feature video or, like in this particular instance, are audio only. We've had a lot of Chopin releases over the past year, several of which I've reviewed. Getting all of these may be price prohibitive for many readers, and so choices must be made. This release is as of the writing of this review showing at a substantially reduced price that would certainly qualify as "budget," especially in the rarified world of Blu-ray classical music releases. While its performance level might not be at the quicksilver heights of the Kissin, it's certainly worthy of kudos in and of itself. The 5.0 mix here is a little lackluster, but otherwise this is a great bargain-priced alternative to the Kissin-Demidenko release and it comes Recommended.