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Chopin: 4 Ballades/Barcarolle, Op.60/Fantasie in F | 
 enlarge | Creators: Frederic Chopin, Krystian Zimerman
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $8.90
You Save: $8.08 (48%)
New (37) Used (15) from $5.99
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 25179
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5 x 0.4
MPN: 423090
UPC: 028942309029
EAN: 0028942309029
ASIN: B000001G8Q
Release Date: October 25, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Balladen: No.1 in g, op.23 | | • | 4 Balladen - Ballades - Ballate: No 2 F-dur Op. 38 | | • | 4 Balladen - Ballades - Ballate: No. 3 As-dur Op. 47 | | • | 4 Balladen - Ballades - Ballate: No. 4 f-moll Op. 52 | | • | 4 Balladen - Ballades - Ballate: Barcarolle Fis-dur Op. 60 | | • | 4 Balladen - Ballades - Ballate: Fantasie f-moll Op. 49 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Krystian Zimerman's Chopin is big. He plays this music with a great dynamic range and huge contrasts, with little of the shading we love in Rubinstein's Chopin. Except for the Barcarolle, these are pretty big pieces, so Zimerman doesn't exactly overwhelm the music. It's just very 20th- century Chopin, not on the composer's original scale, but not badly done either. I think this disc would sound a lot better in a large listening room than in a small one, however (or in your car). The recording is too close up; we could have used more distance from the piano. --Leslie Gerber
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not my cup of tea. May 30, 2007
Abel (Hong Kong)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am not a great enthusiast of Chopin, but consider his Ballades the best of his compositions both in depth of emotions and lyricism.
Hence I am a rather keen listener of this category of Chopin. I bought Mr. Zimmerman's disc with high hopes, being Chopin Ballades played by a Polish pianist that is both young (1990 recorded) and eminent.
However, I must admit that I did not enjoy this disc.
The playing isn't bad at all, but it is a matter of taste.
The ballades are too straightforward in emotions. The Barcarolle hardly sounds like one such - Argerich had a much much finer rendition of the same piece, much more moving and vivid.
However, I think with maturity and time, Mr. Zimmerman would be able to come up with a newer and more profound version of the same pieces.
I look forward to it.
 Love it! April 4, 2006
S Duncan (London)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
As explained in the brief but adequate notes accompanying this recording, the term "ballade" also suggests some poetry and this is 'reading' proves it. I LOVE the way that Zimerman pours over these pieces...like the delicate but vivid watercolours that I envision them to be! The rubato is to die for and the piano, while close, is full and warm. Only by way of comparison, while I'm also a fan of Ashkenazy's interpretations, his piano has a metallic ring that is absent from say Zimerman and Pollini recordings. But back to the present set, in particular the Ballade No. 4 f-moll op. 52 is a lover's caress....languid but never lazy.
I have searched for exactly this interpretation. Not to everyone's taste maybe but after the unrushed but pristine brilliance of Pollini's Ballades, this is the PERFECT counterpoint. My Chopin Ballades are now complete.
Can it get any better than this...? February 15, 2006
Antonia Brentano
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I absolutely LOVE this cd, it is definitely one of my "desert island" discs. For this recording Zimerman again used his own Steinway, which has such a great, warm sound.
Some may find his tempi on the slow side, but that's more a question of personal taste. However, I can hardly think of a better, more beautiful way to play the 4th ballade, it's absolutely stunning, what a sound, what a music! I've heard it better maybe once, by Zimerman live in concert in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
 Great work, but could go little further November 27, 2005
Youren Xu (Albuquerque, NM USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Zimerman's rendition of the Chopin Ballades are well crafted and probing. However, he could vary his style and phrasing a bit. For example, the G minor's entrance could use some more color and momentum (his is as slow is it gets). The F minor and Fantasie are also static during the beginning. I agree with Mr. Gabrowski that Ivan Moravec's recording is more compelling and spontaneous. Fortuanately, DG's digital sonics compell me to listen to this recording every once in a while.
A very personal approach, but the competiiton is fierce November 1, 2005
Santa Fe listener
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
Zimerman is Polish, a Chopin specialist of note, and a sometime conductor who founded an orchestra named after his immortal countryman. But this set of Ballades is exactly as reviewer John Grabowski says, a bit too tame and literal.
I have no idea where the official Amazon reviewer is coming from--Zimerman doesn't play the Ballades as big pieces (go to Kissin and Pollini for that), and as for being far away from Rubenstein's style, Zimerman's stiffness and dryness often remind me of Rubenstein. In fact he avoids much of the drama and passion in these great works. As to tempi, Zimerman is a minute slower than Pollini in the first three Ballades, two minutes slower in the Fourth Ballade and the F minor Fantasy. But that still puts him in the same range as Kissin and many others.
There's a lot of clipped, terse playing here, but also a lot of arbitrary pauses for effect, and Zimerman imposes his own temperament in terms of rubato and phrasing. The result is more than a bit calculated. I realize that there are those who love Zimerman as much as I love Pollini, but overall this isn't a Chopin CD I treasure.
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