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