Chopin Fantasie Impromptu, Opus 66

Audiophile1,

FWIW, I JUST recieved my copy of the Kissin Impromptus 4 this AM, my earlier comments were about his recording on Volume 1 at Carnegie hall which did not include it.

For performance comparisons, for Jax's purposes, I did a down and dirty listen to it as well as the Hewlett and Nakamatsu versions which I had previously commented on to Jax2 in my original post, and which I selected because of my view of the 'dreamy nature' of their performances of Impromptus 4.

The tone, or contrasts in tone, in Hewletts and Nakamatsu's was softer, less sharply delineated, if you will. The tempo about the same. Some will love Kissin's version I think, especially if you like a more masculine style (and I do with a lot of Chopin, especially his sonatas). And that is how I heard the Kissin recording. But that was just once, Ill be listening to it again and I'll keep an open mind. I love alternatives in everything.

BTW the acoustic and recording techniques are totally different from my other Kissin/Carnegie Hall recordings I mentioned to Jax2. I think this last recording (made in 2007) is more balanced over the entire spectrum and if you like Kissin's Chopin there is no reason not to have this CD nor any of his others for that matter if you are not too anal about audio.

BTW, you make take solice in the fact that my piano experience is as limited as my computer keyboard skills. Slow, hunt and peck, with lots of errors. But, as I love a good read, I love the music from a solo piano. A prime interest for me.

I'm not a big Chopin fan. But I was really impressed with Kissin's playing. I just had to have that disc. I'm glad you sort of like it too.
As far as a combination of good recording quality and good piano playing, this is a very good example.

I also highly recommend Kissin and Levine (recorded live at Carnegie Hall) "Schubert: Piano Music for 4 hands".
That is also a very good recording from both the performance and recording standpoints.

Yep, re Kissin/Levine. And I didn't even think of Levine as a pianist, although I guess all conductors do play the piano. :-)

Now for something almost oxymoronic - Volodos plays Schubert and on Sony no less. Outstanding nuanced performance (who da thunk this 'key banger' could have done it) and an excellent recording by a mainstream manufacturer. If you haven't already, you really have to hear it. My opinion of Volodos potential really soared when I first hear this. If you are fond of Schubert (and I assume your are) this is a 'go to' recording IMHO. I've been hoping he would do some more.

I think the Kissin/Levine recording is the one Tim played for us.

I have ordered the Hewitt SACD, I've got to hear for myself what Jax is describing. In some respects, the description is similar to the sound I heard from my SACD player when it was set for multi-chammel playback, where I only have a two channel system. Since it was played back on a CD player, that obviously isn't the case in Jax's situation.

Newbee, I think Moravec made some recordings for Dorian, I'll have to check my library tonight.

Hey Newbee - I LOVE that Volodos / Schubert recording on Sony! Yes, highly recommended. Another go-to for me is Pletnev's live Carnegie Hall double disc.

Marco