"This CD won a Grand Prix du Disc in the original vinyl version. The preludes are miracles in miniature, revealing Chopin at his most subtle and masterful. Pollini movingly brings to life the many voices of these amazing short pieces. If I had to take one CD to a desert island, this would probably be it."
The standard
James Peyton | columbia, sc United States | 09/22/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I bought this recording in vinyl in the early 80s and am still astounded by Pollini's ability to make each prelude individual but still part of a complete opus. I later have bought recordings of this work by Argerich, Perahia, Lortie, Kissin, Ashkenazy, Alexeev, and Pires. All bring special qualities to this incredible work that stands as one of the peaks of piano compostition, but I have found no other recording that matches Pollini's intellectual control, his passion, or comprehensive technique. As a student of these works, I believe that this recording is the benchmark, a truly sublime reading of one of Chopin's most diverse and important works."
An underappreciated classic
Anthony S. | Chicago, IL USA | 03/24/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Pollini's famous recordings of Chopin's 1st concerto and etudes are justly acclaimed, but this choice album is begging for reissue in the "Originals" series. Pollini masterfully plays these microcosmic works as a cycle with trademark technical assurance and in a warmer tone than the etudes album--there is no lack of delicacy in the F-sharp major and F major preludes, for instance. Riveting from the opening C major prelude to the cataclysmic D minor conclusion (a favorite encore of his), this remains my preferred version of this opus despite more-or-less competitive alternatives by Cortot, Argerich, Pogorelich, Moravec, Freire, Kissin, Sokolov, Arrau, Perahia, Rubinstein, and Ashkenazy."
One of Pollini's greatest early recordings
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/17/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Pollini took time off after his spectacular early success to mature as a musician, and when he returned to concertizing around the time he made this classic recording of the 24 Preludes (1975), he had achieved a combinaiton of fire and ice, intelligence and passion, that has propelled his career ever since. These are eminently aristocratic readings, yet under the controlled surface one hears tantalizing hints of anger, melancholy, and ecstasy--Pollini's secret is to hold the entire Romantic arsenal at his command and then hide it from sight (making him the anti-Horowitz).
DG's sound is a bit wooden and boxy, which deprives us of the sensual quality of the piano. That's the only flaw to be found in this utterly mesmerizing recital. As other reviewers have pointed out, what sets this set of Preludes apart is that Pollini turns these miniatures into a single work that holds one's fascination from first to last."
Best recording of the preludes
chris lz | 08/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Pollini here gives my personal favorite reading of the 24 Preludes. There are of course many other top notch versions, such as those by Ashkenazy, Argerich and Perahia; and with such endless competition, in the final analysis it becomes largely a matter of personal taste. Pollini, I think, holds his own very nicely after nearly 35 years (the recording sessions date from June and July, 1974). IMO this is also Pollini's finest Chopin playing on the DG label, and perhaps his best overall DG recording. Unlike his more famous recording of the 24 Etudes, you will hear greater coloristic variety here. He gets greater warmth from his engineers than in the somewhat hammery sonics of the Etudes recording (part of the reason, I believe, why that CD is a turn off for some.) Here is the Pollini I grew up with: a natural, effortless purity pervades his playing, with miking that captures his first class sound, unlike the murkier perspective of many of his recent recordings. One may not find in this reading the drama of an Argerich, or the same degree of poetic freedom found in so many other Chopin discs. But in his own searching and meditative way, there emerges from this disc pointed insights and subtle poetic twists, all delivered with an uncanny intelligence I find unique among recordings of the Preludes. If you're used to the more austere, tonally less interesting Pollini of today, this disc is well worth trying. At 36:18, it's rather skimpy, but one of the few cases where the quality more than makes up for the quantity."