Re: Is this the finest Chopin PC1 on record?

On Sun, 28 Jul 2024 6:52:59 +0000, Rachmaninoff wrote:

On Sat, 27 Jul 2024 10:01:33 +0000, DeepBlue wrote:
>

Polina Leschenko with unknown orchestra 2016:
>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4yc_bFLrgc
>
What do you think?
>
TIA!

>
Her live performances are amazing. This is not
how I would always want to hear this concerto
played, but it's an exhilarating interpretation.

Thanks for listening. Glad you like it.

I think my overall favorite is Sokolov from the
mid-90s. This concerto can sound very repetitive,

? yet Sokolov plays the runs and other repeated

passages differently every time, with phrasing
unlike others, it's an utterly fresh interpretation.
Here is one recording.
https://youtu.be/U72SFliOgm0?si=Ne-kLo153KiPJaWA

I am quite familiar with it. It is very good in a
traditional sense, however I got tired of it. To
my ears it sounds overthought and overwrought,
just as so many post-50 Sokolov peformances.
Leschenko sounds more intimate, spontaneous
and improvised. Another quibble is that one
can clearly hear the metronome in quite a
few sections, as well as a dry, percussive
attack. To my ears, this concerto should be
played legatissimo from the beginning to the
end. Too much pearly playing is bad for one's
health! It makes one cough! ;-)
Cheers!