Louis Lortie - Louis Lortie Plays Chopin, Vol. 3 (2014) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Louis Lortie here gives us the third volume in his ongoing Chopin project. Throughout the series his guiding principle has been to emulate the recital practice of the great romantic pianists, who might play a short improvisation before a major work in order to set the audience in the right frame of mind. On this disc Lortie plays the four Impromptus and the Piano Sonata in B minor, introducing each with a Chopin Nocturne (typically of an improvisatory character) in the same or a related key.

Of all the Impromptus, the first and most famous was actually withdrawn from the public during Chopin's lifetime. Published posthumously as Fantaisie- Impromptu, it set the mould for the unpretentious pieces that followed, all striving more toward casual entertainment than high artistic expression. The third and last of Chopin's Piano Sonatas, Op. 58 in B minor was composed in 1845. While its four-movement design reflects a traditional approach, the appearance of imitative counterpoint, chromatic harmonies, and heightened rhythmic tension mark it as an inspired masterwork of Chopin's late creative period.

Lortie's previous two volumes have received extremely high praise, the magazine Pianist claiming of Vol. 2 that 'his selected nocturnes are probably not bettered by any living pianist'.

On the third instalment of his Chopin series, Louis Lortie precedes what is a strikingly powerful account of the Third Sonata with a series of nocturnes and impromptus. He has taken particular care with the key sequence, so that the C sharp minor Nocturne Op 27 no 1 is followed by the Fantaisie-Impromptu Op 66 in the same key, the Nocturne Op 32 no 2 by the Op 29 Impromptu, both in A flat, and so on, and includes the B major Nocturne Op 9 no 3 to provide a bridge from those to the B minor Sonata. Lortie's Chopin playing has a wonderful, penetrating directness about it; there's not a trace of dreamy indulgence in any of the nocturnes, though all their decorative tracery shines out with a sharp-cut brilliance, and the impromptus dance and divert without a trace of self-consciousness. The sonata, though, is made of much tougher stuff, once again doing nothing purely for show, and culminating in a titanic account of the finale; it's hard to think of a better one on disc in recent times. **** –Guardian, April'14

I try to listen to new recordings two or three times before pulling out the score. When I do finally follow the notes listening to Lortie, my admiration redoubles as I observe the reverent exactitude with which he carries out Chopin's meticulous indications. I have no idea if the series will extend to the Mazurkas and Polonaises, but I certainly hope it does. –IRR, May'14

lortie is a model Chopinist-eloquent but never sentimental. Performance ***** Recording **** BBC MUSIC INSTRUMENTAL CHOICE –BBC Music Magazine, July'14

TRACKLIST

Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)

01. Nocturne Op.27 No.1 (05:51)
02. Fantasy-Impromptu Op.66 (05:01)
03. Nocturne Op.32 No.2 (05:38)
04. Impromptu Op.29 (04:01)
05. Nocturne Op.48 No.2 (06:29)
06. Impromptu Op.36 (05:32)
07. Nocturne Op.27 No.2 (06:00)
08. Impromptu Op.51 (04:55)
09. Nocturne Op.9 No.3 (06:43)

Piano Sonata Op.58 No.3
10. I. Allegro maestoso (09:20)
11. II. Scherzo (02:45)
12. III. Largo (08:54)
13. IV. Agitato (05:28)

PERSONNEL
Louis Lortie, piano