Search - Frederic Chopin, Nikolai Demidenko :: Chopin: Ballades; Third Sonata

(-) The Most Complete Ballades and B Minor Sonata on Disc

C. Pontus T. | SE/Asia | 01/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"INTRODUCTION: This immensely treasurable disc makes up the near-impossible combination of not only the most complete account available of Chopin's four Ballades but also of his B-minor Sonata. Hence, this largely overlooked release cannot be recommended enough. 'A quartet of individuals conceptually similar yet neither definably nor repetitively alike ... a folio of inspirations self-contained and self-sufficient ... hybrid fusions fashioned out of sonata and rondo, variation and fantasy ... entities independent of destiny yet bound together by common ties of dynamic allegiance ... freely imagined edificies, dramatic in voltage--this is what they are' is Ates Orga's eloquent description of the four Chopin Ballades.



REFERENCES: This One; Ohlsson (Garrick Ohlsson - The Complete Chopin Piano Works Vol. 3 - Ballades)



Nearly everything on this disc is done with rare distinction. Demidenko commences by giving the most dramatically beautiful (in short Romantic) version of the First Ballade on record: Listen to the sizzling cascades in the middle A-major/E-flat-major section (4:43), or the volcanic eruptions in the concluding G-minor section (7:43). Also the Second is approaching reference standard, only yielding to Kissin in the drama department--although Kissin cannot match Demidenko's irreproducible bel canto phrasing.



Demidenko's Third suffers from the same problem as Ohlsson's--it is sort of too seriously tardy for its own good. Both Zimerman and Moravec are more successful at combining exquisite phrasing with jolly lightness. In the Fourth, Demidenko displays a combination of his greatest strength as well as weakness in Chopin: he creates a phrasing and articulation that sound so natural that they make one believe his piano can literally sing; at the same time, he holds things so much in relaxed balance that some of the drama is lost--notably in the second B-flat-major section (4:51) that loses its contrasting character. Consequently, his first section is the most lamentably beautiful imaginable, whereas his concluding section (9:37) lacks the unleashed force of Ohlsson--especially so in the 'Coda' (11:12).



This is without a doubt the most pristinely beautiful account of the great B-minor Sonata I've heard (and I can assure you I've heard several dozens). In fact, THE B-minor Sonata is often reserved for Liszt's 1849 creation, although Demidenko provides ample evidence that Chopin's predecessor may well be as great--if not perhaps even greater. (A-B comparisons are rather feasible as Demidenko has also given us a reference Liszt Sonata--Nikolai Demidenko Plays Liszt). Having said that, both the first and third movements occasionally suffer from the above-described tendency of exaggerating balance over impetuous. On the other hand, the second movement's glistering runs haven't been produced with more silkiness, whereas the Rondo Finale's gradually escalating dynamics--underplayed by virtually every other pianist, save Pizarro--reach the most thrilling cumulative climax on disc.



As with the above-listed Liszt Sonata, this CD was recorded at the Snape Maltings (1993), which for some reason appears to bring out the very best in the recording engineers (irrespective of label). Again, Hyperion conjures up a most realistic sound picture--full and clear but still with pleasing reverberance.



Never having been a fan of Joan Chissell's often weird Gramophone reviews, her words on this release are unusually fitting, more or less summing up my main points: 'This is lovely playing which I enjoyed from first note to last for its poetry and passion as well as seemingly effortless keyboard fluency and command. Even if you may question this or that aspect of interpretation, always there is a sense of wonder, as of magical new discovery. [...] I did sometimes feel that in ruminative mood he was inclined to over-relax in a dream-world as it were outside time, at the expense of the music's natural flow, its longer sense of direction.'



Striving for perfection, Demidenko comes closest both in the Ballades and the B-minor Sonata; nonetheless, the occasional lack of impetuous still necessitates a tiny minus. This concludes my extensive review traversal of the greatest noncyclical cycle of piano pieces ever composed.



TIMINGS: Ballades--9:01, 7:59, 7:59, 12:14; Third Sonata--14:00, 2:34, 11:05, 5:12"

Magic fire music

Andreas Faust | Tasmanian Autonomous Zone | 02/11/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're not familiar with Chopin's 'Ballades', then you need to hear them, simple as that.



If you ARE familiar with them, then you need to hear this version.



Nicholai Demidenko's playing is spellbinding - expansive, expressive, capturing perfectly the sense of adventure, of peering over the horizon which the Ballades evoke. The picture by Moreau on the cover (a knight and damsel riding into the unknown) summarises the spirit of the Ballades perfectly.



Ballade No. 1 - starts contemplative then becomes a tumbling cascade, which stabilises itself with a dignity not present in the opening theme. Then the power of the cascade returns, more restrained, for the most intensely powerful passage of the whole Ballade. After that, Chopin feels himself able to relax, with whimsy and humour, before this too is swept into the grand current. There are so many themes coming from each direction it is hard to know where to turn, yet each blends seamlessly into the whole.



Ballade No. 2 - much more nocturnal, not in the same way as the 'Nocturnes', but a more passive, contemplative piece than the first Ballade. Even the violent part (which feels a bit like a lost Prelude) is merely observed, not partaken in. The violence comes from nature rather than man, and is powerfully impressive.



Ballade No. 3 - this is the only Ballade in a major key, and also generally speaking the most restrained. It feels like a reflection of Chopin on his own soul, mulling over with a quiet sense of wonder what he may be capable of. It ends with a noble display of controlled self-assertion.



Ballade No. 4 - John Ogdon described this as "the most exalted, intense and sublimely powerful of all Chopin's compositions... It is unbelievable that it lasts only twelve minutes, for it contains the experience of a lifetime." I agree that it is the most poweful of the Ballades, containing an unspeakable depth of subtle emotion, more than could remotely be expressed in words. Mysterious, beautiful and also with a quiet sense of hope for an as yet unfulfilled destiny...sad laughter sounds over rippled water. Sorrow and loss, but pride.



Demidenko's handling of the Ballades alone would make this album worth the purchase, but it also includes his rendition of Chopin's Third Piano Sonata. A magnificent piece, mercurial, yet far more coherent than the Second Sonata (with its famous funeral march), and full of psychedelic fire and clarity. Again Demidenko brings out subtleties in the music which maybe Chopin himself didn't envision."