Composer: Frédéric François Chopin
Performer: Khatia Buniatishvili
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Sony
Catalogue: 88691971292
Release: 2012
Size: 556 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 ‘Marche funèbre’
02. I. Grave – Doppio movimento
03. II. Scherzo
04. III. Marche funèbre. Lento
05. IV. Finale. Presto
06. Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
07. I. Maestoso
08. II. Larghetto
09. III. Allegro vivace
10. Mazurka No. 13 in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
A Liszt recital on Sony Classical last year was Khatia Buniatishvili’s critically acclaimed debut as a recording artist. After the great recognition of this first album, she is now following this up with an album that encompasses five works by Frédéric Chopin. This album marks her debut concerto recording with orchestra.
Khatia Buniatishvili has been described by The Independent as “the young Georgian firebrand”. At the age of only 24 years, this Tblisi-born pianist has already achieved an exceptional maturity of interpretation and a distinctive artistic approach that make her playing unmistakable.
In the current season she is the “rising star” in Vienna at the Musikverein and Konzerthaus, is giving recitals in Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam and Paris, as well as at the Wigmore Hall, is a guest at the festivals in Schwetzingen, Lucerne and Verbier and is making her first appearances with the Munich Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony.
Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili is a phenomenon, and kudos to Sony Classical for snagging her! This is Chopin of the old school, with massive interposition of the performer between music and listener. And it’s glorious. The Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35, is an absolutely original reading, with that black belt of classical pianism, a fresh rendition of the famous funeral march, with real involvement in the emotional content of the movement. This is a Chopin funeral march played after someone actually died, and the moment of chilly nihilism that serves as the finale is really a bit scary here.
The big Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, is hardly less stirring. Buniatishvili races forward at times, delays as if in torture at other times, and has the skills and the raw power to pull it all off. Are there problems? Sure. It’s true that a 19th-century virtuoso recital would have freely mixed orchestral and solo music, but the live performance of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, doesn’t quite fit here, partly because the acoustic of the Salle Pleyel in Paris is nothing like that of the Jesus-Christus-Kirche in Berlin, where the other pieces were recorded. And a few of Buniatishvili’s dynamic contrasts go beyond anything Chopin could have accomplished with his own piano or even intended. But these are the flaws that serve only to point up the considerable accomplishments elsewhere. This is the kind of Chopin playing that people used to line up to hear.