Chopin: Scherzi Nos. 1-4

“This invaluable reissue of discs dating from 1952-53 is a reminder of Jorge Bolet's early stature. The first-ever recording of Prokofiev's malignant, ferociously demanding Second Concerto is of so much more than documentary interest...nothing can dim one's sense of Bolet's massive and unswerving authority, a quality at once lyrical and magisterial...A true aristocrat of the keyboard, his warmth and humanity strike you at every turn.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011

“Immense, yet light-fingered keyboard power from Richter, whose mastery opens out great vistas of space around the music.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2012 *****

“Have you ever heard a more aqueous evocation of Ravel’s water nymph? Grosvenor’s Steinway instrument seems permanently underwater, swimming through the softest of rippling textures...Grosvenor, you can tell, is a Romantic pianist, almost from another age. He doesn’t deconstruct, or stand at a distance. He jumps inside the music’s soul.” The Times, 8th July 2011 ****

“It's an immensely confident set, comparable to Evgeny Kissin's early performances – the most impressive aspect being not his obvious command of technique, but an intellectual and emotional understanding of the music way beyond his tender years.” The Independent, 8th July 2011 ****

“This recital disc shows his ability to twin youthful exuberance with impeccable technique and magisterial musical intelligence...Grosvenor's balance of oratory and ornament, gesture and poetry – evident, too, in Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit – are moving as well as impressive. He's a phenomenon: modest, poised and natural, as well as brimming with talent.” The Observer, 17th July 2011

“The first thing you notice is the limpid surface of Grosvenor’s playing, the warm tonal gleam that he conjures up from the keys. It is a beautiful sound, and beneath it there are seams of passion, discretion and emotional affinity with the music...there is little to quibble with in this recital, which shows intelligence coupled with a command of keyboard colour and musical characterisation that are remarkable.” The Telegraph, 14th July 2011 ****

“In Gaspard he magically combines the micro-refinement of a Pogorelich with the poetic wisdom and golden touch of a Perlemuter, and in Chopin's Scherzos integrates the music's hurtling mood-swings with mesmerising intensity.” Classic FM Magazine, September 2011 *****

“Both the main works here...demonstrate the brilliance of Grosvenor's technique as he takes the challenges of Chopin's pieces in his stride, and vividly conjures up the colours of Ravel's piano writing, if rather underplaying the pieces' nightmarish qualities” The Guardian, 18th August 2011 ***

“one of the most individual things about this stunning debut by Benjamin Grosvenor is his pervasive sense of balance and his unerring blend of Classical restraint and Romantic ardour...He is a virtuoso who declines the mantle of virtuoso, every gestures being put exclusively and exhilaratingly at the service of the music. Grosvenor's playing exudes joy and spontaneity, seeming to release rather than interpret the music.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 *****

“evidence of an awesome talent, a pianist with fantastic natural reflexes in the Cziffra class and, more excitingly, a musician with purpose and imagination, whose playing transcends the sterile confines of the studio...Crowning all is a masterly Gaspard in which an astonishing array of touch and tonal colouring are brought to bear in Grosvenor's vivid, distinctly defined characterisation of all three movements.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2011

“This release is quite superlative in every way...Grosvenor's fleet-fingered virtuosity is a match for the finest...Despite this, there's a modesty and humility to these readings which is wonderful to behold...Grosvenor is seemingly incapable of producing an ugly tone and the richness of colour and nuance has been perfectly captured by the Decca engineers. This is essential listening.” International Record Review, September 2011

“A generous selection of Rubinstein's early Chopin recordings shows a seemingly effortless, intuitively musical response to each piece. Sound quality is not an issue when faced with such great performances.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2008 *****

“A distinguished series of beautifully presented reissues” Gramophone Magazine

“The current remastering by Andrew Walter has removed almost all the background noise, and the mono piano recording is miraculously real and vivid.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“There's a grand romanticism about Trpceski's interpretations… The hectic sweep in the Sonata's first subject drives ahead with a feverishness against which the second subject is allowed to relax, glowing deep and tender; and Trpceski's phrasing of the songful trio embedded in the manic second movement is simply magical.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2007 *****

“He quickly displayed the compelling hallmarks of his style: light but devastatingly punchy octaves; well delineated rhythms (he can pounce on chords with a drum-like vigour when he chooses); a gossamer touch in lyrical episodes; and an impeccable ear for internal balance.” The Times

“From Simon Trpceski, a relatively new star in EMI's firmament, Chopin's music boils with a Heathcliff-like defiance. Here is no drawingroom dandy but a composer who truly rages against the dying of the light. Yet just as awe replaces critical scrutiny when faced with Trpceski's formidable mastery, you remember how such towering virtuosity is complemented by an equally remarkable refinement. If few pianists have stormed the Second Sonata's first movement more heroically, even fewer have played the Funeral March's central Elysian Trio with such poise and concentration.
The four Scherzi, too, offer a similar combination of superlatives, one where a thrusting youthful impetuosity is balanced by lyrical introspection (try Chopin's central molto piùlento reworking of the Polish carol 'Sleep little Jesus'). Such unfaltering style and assurance are enough to make lesser pianists weep with envy and, more generally, there is an almost palpable sense of Chopin's irony, when he called three of his most savage utterances 'scherzo' (literally meaning a joke). Trpceski's dizzying voltage and aplomb, superbly recorded, represent the finest modern alternative.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“there’s a genuine feeling of spontaneity about these performances, yet he’s still able to bring out little details and emphasise lines you might not have noticed before...Personality in spades, yes, but there’s also integrity, and that really matters. You get the feeling that Trpceski really identifies with this composer-pianist...Sheer delight from end to end.” Andrew McGregor, bbc.co.uk, 2nd April 2007

“In the use of words like sensational, extraordinary, phenomenal, etc., critics have to be sparing, at risk of their credibility. But these adjectives are all appropriate to this new Chopin recital by Stephen Hough, which vaults him to the top rung in this repertoire, right next to Rubinstein” American Record Guide

“This is astonishing piano playing; Chopin interpretation that, at its best, fully measuring up to the greatness of these pieces. Stephen Hough's accounts offer plenty of refreshment to spirit and senses.
The distribution is interesting, chronological but alternating one of each, which may not make a recital to consume at one go, but helps to point up their diversity and individual character, as well as Chopin's mastery of large forms. Hough is unfailingly thoughtful; there isn't a note that hasn't been cared for. Just a few of them (Third Ballade, for example) are picked out of the texture and strung together for our delectation in a way that might strike you as otiose if you're in a sober-sides kind of mood. The surfaces of his presentations are very 'worked', more indicative of application, maybe, than of organic growth. But this isn't superficial playing – the performances catch fire.
He inclines to the accepted view that Chopin's large forms have a 'plot' that culminates in a tumult or a whirlwind of activity. The tempest in the coda of the Fourth Ballade might have been a mite less furious, to let the ear have more time to register what's going on. The closing pages of No 1, on the other hand, have an exemplary finish and allure. Most distinguished of the Ballades is No 2, where Hough perceives the invasion of one kind of music by another in all its subtlety and lays out a spellbinding sevenminute drama.
He has interesting points to make in the Scherzos, too. Where many a player is content to let recurring sections and paragraphs register simply as the music we heard before, with him they sound different in some degree, affected by what's come in between. Hough is always doing something, though sometimes you might wish he were doing less. This is an issue out of the ordinary; welcome, too, for being handsomely recorded and produced.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010