COMPOSERS: Chopin
LABELS: Mercury Living Presence
WORKS: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor; Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor
PERFORMER: Gina Bachauer (piano); LSO/Antal Dorati
CATALOGUE NO: 434 374-2 ADD (1963/64)
Gina Bachauer (1913-76), who studied with Cortot and Rachmaninov, was a player of grand style and declamatory manner, a Romantic throwback. These Watford Town Hall performances are large-scaled, even occasionally poetic (blemishes, audible edits apart), but in their literal phrasing and pedestrian passagework lack the mercurial touch or imaginative fantasy of a Rubinstein. The performance is more muscular than graceful, joins are contrived and Dorati, despite quality balancing and attention to detail, is mannered in the expressive extremes. Repeated tracking problems marred my review copy. Ates Orga
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor; Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor
Gina Bachauer (1913-76), who studied with Cortot and Rachmaninov, was a player of grand style and declamatory manner, a Romantic throwback. These Watford Town Hall performances are large-scaled, even occasionally poetic (blemishes, audible edits apart), but in their literal phrasing and pedestrian passagework lack the mercurial touch or imaginative fantasy of a Rubinstein. The performance is more muscular than graceful, joins are contrived and Dorati, despite quality balancing and attention to detail, is mannered in the expressive extremes. Repeated tracking problems marred my review copy.
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:08 pm