Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Can 21 Nocturnes be a bit too much of a good thing in one go? Not if the composer is Chopin, undisputed king of the genre, and the pianist is Maria Joâo Pires. She's not exactly a prolific recording artist, but the results are invariably special. Not for her the namby-pamby, soft-focus approach that these pieces sometimes provoke. Chopin's approach to the form is by no means straightforwardly lyrical--take No. 4: it starts innocently enough, but in its middle section that mood is abruptly flung aside by a considerably more passionate section. To Pires, each is a song, a narrative urgently to be expounded (just try the famous No. 12--an entirely new experience in her hands, or the way she becomes the most expressive of sopranos in No. 20). Night casts strange shadows, shedding a different perspective on what seems so familiar by day. No one is more aware of that than Chopin. And no protagonist relishes the very innovative aspect of these pieces better than Pires. --Harriet Smith
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Pires' interpretations are really stunning, whether you are listening to her Mozart, Schumann or Schubert, or her Chopin. She captures more emotion, more grace, than any other pianist I have heard. And I have heard the nocturnes by so many of our great pianists -- Arrau, Barenboim, Novaes to name a few. Pires has a different approach, a kindness to her touch on the piano, that fluffs out these noctures, filling them with a patience, an adoration, that has not been recorded before. The fluidity and style comes not just from Pires' fingers but from her heart, and what you get is a rich evocation not just of Chopin's notes on the paper but of his own heart and mind. These are not your typical, textbook interpretation. If you want that, I suggest the very nice Barenboim. But if you've heard these works many times before and want a change, something different, something fuller and more romantic, tender as well as subtlely powerful, do try this Pires. You will hear the nocturnes as you have never heard them before -- perhaps even think that these are new, undiscovered works, they differ so delightfully from others' recordings. This collection is far superior to any of her predecessors', and I would think that years from now she'll be admired as having delivered a classic performance on these CDs.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This year of 2010 is the commemorative year of the 200th anniversary of FRYDERYK CHOPIN's birth (or, in french, FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN), the famous, beloved and sophisticated polish Composer and Pianist.
In the Chopin's world, among the very great pianists, ARTUR RUBINSTEIN is a legend. "Chopin" - wrote him in one's own hand - "was a genius of universal appeal. His music conquers the most diverse audiences. When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall there is a happy sigh of recognition".[...]"When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people!" ["The Chopin Collection", RCA Red Seal, in the booklet of "The Ballades" & "The Scherzos" (complete), and on others of the collection].
Another legendary pianist of this world is CLAUDIO ARRAU (on PHILIPS label).
They are indispensable models (references).
Also SVIATOSLAV RICHTER is a powerful example (Philips, "The Authorised Recordings"; DECCA, "20th Century Piano Works", and Regis).
But, among the alived ones, we found very distinguished Chopin performers: MARTHA ARGUERICH (DG and EMI), MAURIZIO POLLINI (DG), MARIA JOĆO PIRES (DG, Erato), VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY (DECCA), DANIEL BARENBOIM (DG), KRYSTIAN ZIMERMAN (DG), EVGENY KISSIN (RCA Red Seal), MURRAY PRAHIA (SONY - But, in my opinion, his "Ballades" and "Etudes" are excessively valued by "Gramophone")...
To pay homage to the composer FRYDERYK CHOPIN, I search for a disc in my library. The choose is not easy. I opt for the "NOCTURNES" by the portuguese pianist MARIA JOĆO PIRES. [Chopin developed and increased, at a highest degree, the "Nocturnes" of its pioneer JOHN FIELD (on NAXOS label), the delightful irish composer and pianist].
The CHOPIN's "NOCTURNES" are magnificent and magnetic works.
A necklace of 21 pearls.
There are no adjectives to qualify the performance of Maria Joćo Pires.
"No moon in the sky ever length such a glow..." (from the song "Woman in Love").
Poetic, glamourous, with splendour, the piano sings under her fingers. And sings marvellousely.
The sound is truly wonderful, with an astonishing clearness and amazing purity.
The recording is magnificent, assisted to all the contemporary technology.
"Maria Joćo Pires [is] among the most eloquent master-musicians of our time" ("Gramophone").
Or, paraphrasing A. Rubinstein, Maria Joćo Pires "speaks directly to the hearts of people!".
These discs are essential in any classical music's library.
Total playing time: 50'29 (disc 1) + 58'42 (disc 2); 4D - DDD; "Deutsche Grammophon" - 2 CDs; Published in 1996.
The box set, with a beautiful cover, also includes a very good booklet (with a worthy cover - see above), in english, germany, french, italian and spanish.
The music have no frontiers.
ONOFRE MOREIRA (PORTUGAL)
In the Chopin's world, among the very great pianists, ARTUR RUBINSTEIN is a legend. "Chopin" - wrote him in one's own hand - "was a genius of universal appeal. His music conquers the most diverse audiences. When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall there is a happy sigh of recognition".[...]"When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people!" ["The Chopin Collection", RCA Red Seal, in the booklet of "The Ballades" & "The Scherzos" (complete), and on others of the collection].
Another legendary pianist of this world is CLAUDIO ARRAU (on PHILIPS label).
They are indispensable models (references).
Also SVIATOSLAV RICHTER is a powerful example (Philips, "The Authorised Recordings"; DECCA, "20th Century Piano Works", and Regis).
But, among the alived ones, we found very distinguished Chopin performers: MARTHA ARGUERICH (DG and EMI), MAURIZIO POLLINI (DG), MARIA JOĆO PIRES (DG, Erato), VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY (DECCA), DANIEL BARENBOIM (DG), KRYSTIAN ZIMERMAN (DG), EVGENY KISSIN (RCA Red Seal), MURRAY PRAHIA (SONY - But, in my opinion, his "Ballades" and "Etudes" are excessively valued by "Gramophone")...
To pay homage to the composer FRYDERYK CHOPIN, I search for a disc in my library. The choose is not easy. I opt for the "NOCTURNES" by the portuguese pianist MARIA JOĆO PIRES. [Chopin developed and increased, at a highest degree, the "Nocturnes" of its pioneer JOHN FIELD (on NAXOS label), the delightful irish composer and pianist].
The CHOPIN's "NOCTURNES" are magnificent and magnetic works.
A necklace of 21 pearls.
There are no adjectives to qualify the performance of Maria Joćo Pires.
"No moon in the sky ever length such a glow..." (from the song "Woman in Love").
Poetic, glamourous, with splendour, the piano sings under her fingers. And sings marvellousely.
The sound is truly wonderful, with an astonishing clearness and amazing purity.
The recording is magnificent, assisted to all the contemporary technology.
"Maria Joćo Pires [is] among the most eloquent master-musicians of our time" ("Gramophone").
Or, paraphrasing A. Rubinstein, Maria Joćo Pires "speaks directly to the hearts of people!".
These discs are essential in any classical music's library.
Total playing time: 50'29 (disc 1) + 58'42 (disc 2); 4D - DDD; "Deutsche Grammophon" - 2 CDs; Published in 1996.
The box set, with a beautiful cover, also includes a very good booklet (with a worthy cover - see above), in english, germany, french, italian and spanish.
The music have no frontiers.
ONOFRE MOREIRA (PORTUGAL)
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Pires' Nocturnes are beautifully nuanced and controlled. She understands the late-night poetry of this music more than any other pianist I've heard, and DG's stunning sound only enhances the pleasure of this set. If you only need one Chopin record it's this one.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Most beautiful performance
Pires plays Chopin's 21 Nocturnes most beautifully. She brings out the languid feeling of the pieces. The light and shade of the nuance are expressed very well. Read more
Published 3 days ago by KazM
Captivating Interpretations
Having read the other reviews, I see that these performances are controversial. I find myself firmly on the "pro" side. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Musica Vita
Magnificent!
Just a word: magnificent! Performance and recording are really very good.
You just listen and listen... and each time you listen again you want to listen one more time... Read more
You just listen and listen... and each time you listen again you want to listen one more time... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Axe
Recommended
I'm very satisfied with this recording. I love Chopin's nocturns and have more than 5 different recordings. This is one of the best of them and competitively priced as well.
Published 20 months ago by M. Yung
Good, but problematic recording.
Pires plays the Master's Nocturnes well, but the recording, especially on the second of the two discs, features her stertorous breathing and snorting, which is most distracting. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson
Much overrated
Maria Joao Pires' set of Chopin's 21 Nocturnes has been extravagantly praised. She certainly performs the nocturnes gracefully, particularly those that come closest to the salon... Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2001
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
![DUO Philips [9]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517VPjteULL._AA60_.jpg)
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
