CLASSICAL music purists and Chopin aficionados should not be put off by the Classic FM-type title of this disc of Chopin's piano music, or by the repertoire chosen by Artur Pizarro, a very distinguished pianist (though I'm not convinced how widely that fact is realised) . Pizarro's choice of pieces might resemble a selection of Chopin favourites and pops, but he brings to the most familiar music a spellbinding array of insights in this set of performances, which admirably display his intelligence and originality of thought, along with breathtakingly sensitive playing which allows Chopin's music to breathe. Listen to the heartstopping, hushed versions of the Nocturnes in B Major and C sharp minor, the achingly-beautiful performance of the D f lat Nocturne, and Pizarro's dry, light, super-articulate playing of that perennial barnstormer, the Grande Valse Brillante, to see what I mean. Even
alongside legendary recordings by such pianists as Rubinstein, this collection features some of the finest Chopin playing on record.
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