Search - Frederic Chopin, Idil Biret :: Chopin: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 8

Idel Biret Plays Chopin's Polonaises

Robin Friedman | Washington, D.C. United States | 01/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Polonaise is a Polish dance in 3/4 time that originated in the 17th Century and spread from its rural origins to the aristocracy. Many composers have written polonaises. For example, one of Beethoven's more obscure piano works is the polonaise in C, opus 89, a glittering piece of about six minutes that he composed in 1814-15 for the Congress of Vienna. But all efforts with this form pale before the polonaises of Chopin with their passion, depth, heroism and melancholy that have never been equalled.



Chopin composed polonaises beginning as a child of seven and continuing until three years before his death. This CD of Chopin polonaises by the Turkish pianist Idel Biret, part of her complete recording of Chopin for Naxos, includes the seven polonaises of Chopin's maturity that are essential listening for any lover of music. (Chopin's minor polonaises are included on a follow-up CD for Naxos.) Idel Biret is a Turkish pianist who studied with William Kempff. Between 1990 -- 1992, she recorded the complete works of Chopin for Naxos for which she received the Grand Prix du Disque Chopin in 1995. In a field crowded with outstanding pianists and recordings, Biret's Chopin remains an excellent choice, especially for those new to the music who might be bewildered by the many available CDs. Biret hardly qualifies for her technical virtuosity or her showmanship -- qualities that are in too abundant supply in Chopin interpretations. She is instead a consummate musician who has studied these scores and who plays with feeling, restraint, and an almost self-effacing character. I think Chopin would have loved her. Chopin's pupil and editor, Carl Mikuli, wrote of Chopin's playing that "with all the warmth of his peculiarly ardent temperament, his playing was always within bounds, chaste, polished and at times even severely reserved." Mikuli could have been writing of Idel Biret.



Biret brings lyricism and a strong sense of rhythmic fluidity to her performance of the Chopin polonaises. Several of the works on this CD are well-known to even the inexperienced listener. Thus in the "Military" polonaise, opus 40 no. 1 Biret conveys the character of the music with a march-like fluid tempo without rushing or banging. In the most famous polonaise of the set, the "heroic" polonaise in A flat major, opus 53, Biret avoids the tendency to grandstand or to let mere virtuosity stand in the way of the fire of the music and of the difficult passages in octaves.



The greatest work in this collection is the Polonaise in F-sharp minor, opus 44 which is less well-known than either the military or the heroic polonaise. This is a lengthy, difficult brooding work with a passionate, angry main theme, full of trills and arpeggios, with a contrasting section in the form of a mazurka, another Polish dance. Biret offers a lovely introduction to this masterful work.



The Polonaise-Fantasy opus 61 is a late, ambitious work of Chopin, the lengthiest of the set, that goes back to my youth and that has become my favorite even though it is frequently criticized for its diffuse, improvisatory character. The Polonaise-Fantasy mixes moments of lyricism and flights of fancy with brooding and with stirring runs and trills at the conclusion.



The two polonaises of opus 26 are both in the minor key and tend to the songlike and the tragic. The C minor polonaise, opus 40 no. 2, the companion to the "military" polonaise is a work of grandeur and austurety, even in its contrasting middle section. After the two highly familar polonaises and the f-sharp minor polonaise, this is the work that is likely to capture the imagination of the new listener.



The polonaises on this CD are an essential part of Chopin's output and of the literature of the piano. Biret plays with both feeling and understatement. Biret's performances of Chopin are an excellent introduction to his music without excess or histrionics.



Robin Friedman"