Search - Frederic Chopin, Nelson Freire :: Chopin: Nocturnes

Nelson Freire and the Chopin Nocturnes

Hubert S. Mickel | 07/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have acquired recordings of Nelson Freire playing Chopin and also one with Schumann, in addition to the two piano concerti of Brahms with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has consistently been unmistakenly beautiful in all that he has played. The Nocturnes by Chopin are also, not suprisingly, played superlatively well. It takes a unique sensitivity to play Chopin well. Freire demonstrates convincingly that he has got it."

The Nocturnes as easy as breathing

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/04/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hearing the older Freire's recent recordings with Decca sent me scurrying to hear his earlier CDs, and most especially his Chopin. The Brazilian pianist has shown a lifelong devotion to Chopin's music. He performs it very differently from his great predecessors, whether they are Rachmaninov, Cortot, Horowitz, or Rubinstein. All imposed a potent personal style on the scores, although Rubinstein was the most respectful and Horowitz the most intrusive. Freire aims to disappear into the music, letting us recognize him almost as an absence, so discreet are is stylistic gestures. Yet his Nocturnes are more compelling than almost any other, because the intimacy of these sophisticated night time reveries puts the listener in a reflective mood -- a mood perfectly attuned to Freire's unassuming poetry. This CD includes ten selected Nocturnes, arranged as a program rather than in chronological order. It is filled out with the F minor Fantasie.



Both here, in his first version (released in 1975) and in the recent complete set made for the Chopin bicentennial, we hear the same artist. It's quite remarkable that a pianist just past thirty should sound so seasoned and one just past 65 should sound so spontaneous. There really is little to choose between them, except on two grounds. I find the second recording more varied from one Nocturne to the next. Chopin never intended for these works to be played as a set, and except for the Waltzes, there's no harder group to make sound like individuals, thanks to the prevailing quiet mood. Freire's growth as an artist brings out small but telling distinctions. Second, Decca's piano sound for the second set is exemplary -- full and warm where the piano here sounds a little pingy i the top register and recessive in the bass.



Yet for all that, this is an inspiring and often very moving traversal of the Nocturnes, one to listen to while pondering the quiet sweetness and melancholy of existence. Such natural playing is hard won and all the more treasurable for that."

Sublime and excel recording!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 03/24/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This year and all over the world we will be commemorating the bicentennial of Poland's most beloved musical son.



Chopin was a poet neither more nor less. And his Nocturnes perhaps contain the essence of his excel musicianship and incorporeal elusiveness. No other composer in the past handled the concept of this musical miniatures with such indomitable lyricism, hovered by that unequaled classical elegance. Not even John Field who really was the undisputed harbinger of the genre.



There have been countless versions along all these years, but the certain is that there are just a few which still maintain and preserve the coveted oneness and supreme hegemony.



Nelson Freire is a sheer colorist. Gifted of an remarkable musical vision, he has got to astonish us once more (as he had done it previously with a set of Preludes and Scherzos, thirty years ago on Telefunken label).



This set is admirable, deeply touching and admirably well played, specially around the cantabile line and the exquisite emotiveness without falling into dated sentimentalism or forced affectation.



I was the fortune to watch him in Caracas in the early eighties and I must say it, I was engaged with his febrile lyricism and majestic approach (he played Prokoviev's Third).



So, after having listened this record I would really like to recommend you without reserves of any sort. Come on and acquire it. You will always be rewarded.



Be my guest.

"