Claudio Arrau: Brahms, Ravel, Liszt, & Chopin Piano Works (1999)

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Claudio Arrau: Brahms, Ravel, Liszt, & Chopin Piano Works (1999)

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This "live" recording is taken from an Arrau concert in Italy, 1963. The Brahms is staggering, the Ravel completely transcendant (The Scarbo is faster than Argerich's!) and the Liszt selections played to hair-raising perfection.

I received this CD yesterday. Listening to the very first bars of Brahms' opus 24, I am suddenly reminded of what pianism used to be when remembering Arrau playing his piano in so humble, majestic, respectful and joyful an approach. Handel's "Aria" seems to be played in the spirits of a little drummer boy, so full of joy, conscious of his higher mission -this is not only perfectly-balanced trills, tempi and pedaling-, this, seems to be pianism taken to its highest stage. The first variation, Brahms already, seems to be marked "Maestoso" -you cannot help it; you will actually find yourself on your feet, ready to start dancing! This live recording will be great reference even for people with modern Philips CD's of Brahms played by Arrau. We have the austerity of Kempff, recordings of Bach and Scarlatti by Pogorelich and Perahia made probably under the spell of a capricious Horowitz who played and recorded Scarlatti -and all other composers- in his own fantastic way. None of these, in my opinion, convey so perfectly the spiritual side of music -for magic seems was a reality during the Baroque- rendered here in nobility, during the two minutes or so Arrau takes to deliver the Aria. I think this is the only modern recording available of Gaspard de la Nuit made by Arrau. There might be an old "Arlecchino" CD somewhere but as a son of the modern age, I cannot stand the sound of a piano on recordings made during the first half of the century. The same goes for Chopin's "My Darling".

In his "Conversations with J. Horowitz" Arrau reports himself as a Pianist prone to quick-tempi in his young years. Putting it simply, the faster you play your Liszt, the worst. As Philips recorded Arrau playing Lizst during the 70 and 80's I somehow consider these late recordings superior. However, under the light of program-construction, we know what a master Arrau was when deciding what music to play in his concerts -hence showing value of pieces better recorded somewhere else in my opinion.

I always wanted to have a live recording of Arrau. We have a number of videos in Chile or playing Beethoven with Mutti, with Haitink. After part of the CD reviewed here was played on a local radio station, I knew this is what I wanted and now can sincerely recommend it to all Arrau and music friends. –Amazon–

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Claudio Arrau: Brahms, Ravel, Liszt, & Chopin Piano Works (1999)

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