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OZartsreview |
| Australia's online independent specialist music review journal | |
2001 |
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OZartsreview |
| Australia's online independent specialist music review journal | |
2001 |
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| Great Pianists Chopin: Polonaises (selection) Reviewed by Neville Cohn |
ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN (piano) |
| One of Naxos' most worthwhile recent initiatives is a series of digitally remastered recordings, originally on 78 rpm shellac gramophone records and for decades unavailable - until now. A superb re-issue of Rubinstein's 1934/35 HMV recordings of Chopin Polonaises - made in the old Abbey Road studios in London - is glorious testimony to Rubinstein's unique artistry. For those familiar with the master's recordings of the Polonaises made much later in life, these early interpretations might well prove revelatory. The sizzling emotional temperature at which most of the works are presented, the glowing tone so characteristic of the man, and the effortless virtuosity brought to bear on even the most horrendously demanding episodes (but never for its own sake but invariably in the service of the music) make this a re-issue to cherish. | |
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