Although there is no lack of excellent recordings of Chopin's piano
concertos, the record companies keep churning them out.  A few months ago,
Sony released #2 with Ax on fortepiano, and DG released #2 also with Pires
doing the honors.  Now, they are both back with versions of the first piano
concerto.

I enjoyed both versions of #2 very much, feeling that the Ax was
exceptional.  The new releases are of the same high quality.  The Ax is the
more distinctive of the two, primarily because of the use of a fortepiano.
Overall, I can't praise the Sony issue enough - recording, orchestral
support, richness of piano sound, and interpretation are all superb.

I don't have the Duchable/Plasson, but a review in Gramophone was highly
negative.  The Gramophone conclusion was that Duchable displayed not one
trace of poetry - just a bunch of note banging.  I'm going to acquire it
regardless; I have a very high opinion of Duchable and am very interested
in his approach.

Don Satz
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