Chopin - Etudes Op. 10 & Op. 25 (Ashkenazy) [1990]

01. Opus 10 Etude in C Major
02. Opus 10 Etude in A Minor
03. Opus 10 Etude in E Major
04. Opus 10 Etude in C-sharp Minor
05. Opus 10 Etude in G-flat Major
06. Opus 10 Etude in E-flat Minor
07. Opus 10 Etude in C Major
08. Opus 10 Etude in F Major
09. Opus 10 Etude in F Minor.
10. Opus 10 Etude in A-flat Major
11. Opus 10 Etude in E-flat Major
12. Opus 10 Etude in C Minor
13. Opus 25 Etude in A-flat Major
14. Opus 25 Etude in F-Minor
15. Opus 25 Etude in F Major
16. Opus 25 Etude in A Minor
17. Opus 25 Etude in E Minor
18. Opus 25 Etude in G-sharp Minor
19. Opus 25 Etude in C-sharp Minor
20. Opus 25 Etude in D-flat Major
21. Opus 25 Etude in G-flat Major
22. Opus 25 Etude in B Minor
23. Opus 25 Etude in A Minor
24. Opus 25 Etude in C Minor
25. Trois nouvelles etudes in F Minor
26. Trois nouvelles etudes in D-Flat Major
27. Trois nouvelles etudes in A-flat Major

Vladimir Ashkenazy – piano

How good is Vladimir Ashkenazy's 1959 and 1960 recording of both books of Chopin's Etudes, you might well ask? After all, although he had won the Chopin Competition in 1955 at the age of 18 and would go on to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962, Ashkenazy was still a young man when these recordings were made and would go on to record the Etudes again in 1984 at the peak of his international career. Could this set of Etudes by the young man really compete with the mature master?

Yes, yes, yes. For all his brilliant virtuosity, a mature Ashkenazy is a more measured Ashkenazy and while his 1984 performance of the Etudes is undeniably virtuosic, it is nevertheless a restrained and reserved performance compared with the young Ashkenazy's performance. At 22, Ashkenazy tears into the Etudes with just as much virtuosity but far more fire and gusto. Again and again, one is awed by Ashkenazy's astounding power, his astonishing precision and his utterly amazing technique. But even better is the sensitivity and the soulfulness of Ashkenazy's interpretations. He goes deep beneath the virtuoso surface of the Etudes to their Romantic essence and his performances often are as moving as the greatest ever recorded. Melodiya's sound is gritty, raw, but real. ---James Leonard, Rovi

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