Kai Czepiczka wrote:

>Mr.Morrison wrote that I should get the new DG recording with Zimerman
>...  Well, this one sounds interesting, but probably quite expensive, too.

I did purchase the Zimmerman discs after hearing him and his orchestra
perform the Chopin concertos in Carnegie Hall, even though he's not a
particular favorite of mine.  I thought the live performance was one of the
most charming and enchanting concerts I'd attended in years.  The (very)
young, hand-picked orchestra members played beautifully and were obviously
very enthusiastic about and engaged by the entire project; there was
clearly a special rapport between them, Zimmerman, and the music.  Most
importantly the pieces didn't sound as if they needed to be reorchestrated,
which is what I usually think whenever I hear them, live or recorded.  The
orchestral texture was much more transparent than I'd ever remembered
hearing before, and the attention to detail was really impressive.  (I've
been to more than one performance of these concertos where the orchestra
sounded more like a poorly recorded music-minus-one backdrop to the star
soloist that an active participant in the proceedings.  I've always assumed
that this might be in some way due to Chopin's orchestrations.)

So, yes, I like these recordings a lot, but perhaps because I have
such special memories of the live performance.  I think they're worth
getting for the clarity of the orchestral performance, even if one isn't
particularly enamored of Zimmerman's style of playing (one critic
summarized it as being "too right hand driven" or words to that effect).
When I purchased the recording, you got two discs for the price of one,
which made them quite reasonably priced - but I don't know if that's still
true.

I also like Emanuel Ax's "original instrument" versions - I like the sound
of the reconstructed period Edard (sp/) piano he plays - but probably
wouldn't recommend these as a first choice.

Kathleen O'Connell