Chopin: Piano Concertos #1 (1833) & 2 (1830/36)
Samson Francois, piano
Orchestre National de l'Opera de Monte-Carlo
Louis Fremaux
EMI 67261

"We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane." Kilgore
Trout

Chopin's music is truly humane.  It has taken me several years of
listening to really appreciate his music, but once the awareness takes
place, everything changes forever.  It was just a few months ago that I
learned to appreciate these particular works on another EMI release with
Argerich and Dutoit.  I enthused about it and still find it excellent.  The
reader should know that some other writers have panned that discprimarily
for the orchestral accompaniments and sound.  I found both to be excellent.
In fact, one writer complained that he couldn't hear the horn in the duet
around 7:00.  I hear it just fine, a bit distant perhaps but that lends to
the atmosphere.

Anyway, this GROC release offers more insights to the music.  Mind you,
it is quite different from Argerich.  Francois has more velvety in his
touch.  The orchestra matches this conception.  Argerich has a fleeter,
more mercurial approach.  Hers is like a humming bird; Francois' is more
like a swan.  In a way he is also more "Romantic".  Take the very opening
of the first concerto, when the piano enters Francois pauses just a
fraction more than Argerich and then seems to emphasize the music more.
Another place I noted this was about 5 minutes into the same movement.
When listening to Argerich I wrote, "an achingly beautiful melody." With
Francois I wrote, "like little cat paws" and noticed that here the music
is, again, played with a bit more character, emphasizing the moment.
Another fascinating difference is how the pianists handle the "noodling"
at around 2:30 into the third movement of the first concerto.  Argerich's
right hand is more distant, the whole passage taken at a fast pace.
Francois' right hand is significantly more pronounced, the "noodling" more
pronounced and slowerbut perhaps a bit more poetic for it? While I can
appreciate that some critics might find the same noodling "mannered" I like
it.  I like it differently than I like Argerich; I like them equally.  I
had intended to make other comparative comments, but after awhile gave it
up.  There are just too many places where I was writing notes.  Let me just
tell you that in an attempt to capture the essence of this recording I
wrote, "it sounds like a stream going someplace."

Until a few months ago Samson Francois was a name I vaguely knew, but
that was all.  When I got the EMI GROC recording with the pianist doing
the Ravel concertos I was immediately taken by his playing.  I am not sure
if either that recording or this one was ever available in this country.  I
certainly don't recall seeing either of them.  Samson Francois' surname is
identical with Chopin's middle.  He lived only to the age of 46, dying in
1970.  While the insert notes are almost all about Francois and not about
Chopin, maddeningly they tell nothing about Francois' early demisebut at
least do stress that he was a weirdo.  Anyway, I have found both this disc
and the earlier Ravel reason to seek out more of his recordings.  I recall
seeing, the other day, a Philips set with Francois as part of their "great
pianists" series.  Time to check that out.

You know, it has occurred to me that a serious listener to classical music
should have more than one recording of a piece.  The idea that there is one
recording that is "best" is just silly.  How can you possibly appreciate a
piece of music unless you have explored the various perspectives, studied
the different facets? In fact, I think I shall soon go get out my recording
of Pollini's "rosette" recording and give it a listen.

The tyro to classical music will find either Francois or Argerich an
excellent introduction to this music.  In fact, try both. I really enjoyed
the experience of reporting on my experiences whilst listening to these
recordings.  Then, too, I get a certain kind of evil pleasure when I use
words like "shall" and "whilst".

P. S.  Give the Pollini a try, too.

PPS.  I finally got the Philips set devoted to Samson Francois.  I also
did some other research.  I discovered that the guy essentially drank
himself to death.  He was a protg of Cortot, but his playing is different.
The Philips set is well worth the investment as it offers one disc of
nothing but Chopin with one of the finest recordings of the piano sonata #2
that I know.  I have found that my system at home requires that I cut the
treble and boost the bass to make the discs warmer (this has been true of
all the recordings in this series) but once that noodling is done the sound
is excellent.  I also talked with an old friend of mine, Al Franz.  Al was
manager of a record shop through the fifties and sixties into the seventies
and into the eighties.  He checked his resources and confirmed that in 1955
the Chopin Piano Concerto #1 was listed in the Schwann catalog.  Nothing
else, however, was listed at that time.

bob stumpf