"With the brilliant virtuosity that I have found only his, Andrei Gavrilov sets in my opinion the best Op. 10 & 25 Chopin etude performance commercially recorded. His crisp but untiresome technicality is unmatched, while the undulations of his phrasing gives mountains of substance and weight behind his penetrating precision. This recording was extremely difficult to find, as I believe his European recording contract limited distribution here, but now this recording is available state-side! Some 14 years after hearing the original issue, my recollection of it has not diminished or inflated listening to it again today. Every track stands well against the best of all the Chopin etude recordings I have ever heard. Well worth the price originally, now it is an incredible value for anyone's library that won't just stay on your shelf."
Fantastic!
escape102 | 03/02/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This rendition of Chopin's Etudes is surely one of the best i've ever listened to. Andrei Gravilov has an extraodinary technique and every Etude is perfomed not only perfectly but with so much passion and fire to astonish the listener. At the moment i own nine sets of these beautiful pieces and this one along with Boris Berezovsky and Juana Zayas is the best in my opinion. All the others (Pollini, Peraya, Ashkenazy, Chiu, Cziffra, Cherkassky, Virsaladze, Tomassi)are really notable and very different. I love all of them though Berezosky, Gravilov, Zayas, Lugansky and Neuburger stand a part for the passion overall, the lyricism and beyond-descripion technique displayed.
Highly recommended!"
One of my favorites
Mark Tabla | St. George, UT USA | 10/23/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I collected a lot of CD's in the '90's, many based on Penguin Guide recommendations. While many of these have regrettably collected dust on the shelf, after several years the Gavrilov/Chopin CD is still the first Chopin CD I reach for. Gavrilov first piqued my interest after I heard his stunning recording of Balakirev's Islamey on NPR. After that, I had to investigate this Chopin CD and have not been disappointed. I look forward to hearing his Melodiya Rach 3 on CD."
Stunning, Unbelievable performance!!!
Mark Tabla | 01/23/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Few people on this planet can deliver such an incredible performance of Chopin's etudes. They are very technical by nature, and to hear Gavrilov deliver them with such precision and emotion is almost indescribable. Gavrilov is in that category of individuals who, as someone has said, is "unimagineably great". This is a must have album for all serious Chopin and romantic music afficianados!"