Philippa Greenwood wrote that she had Ashkenazy's recordings of the
waltzes but that she had not heard his nocturne recordings.  I purchased
the nocturne recording to replace my worn-out LP Rubenstein recordings.
Although I am not a pianist and consequently cannot even pretend to be an
expert, I thought that the Ashkenazy renditions were well-done and clearly
listenable; however, I find that I continually compare Ashkenazy with
Rubenstein and that Ashkenazy comes out in second place.  I have tried to
be objective about the differences, but I always end up mourning the fact
that my new set is not a Rubenstein recording.  Perhaps the difficulty is
that my head has a set of expectations which cannot be displaced, but I
find that Rubenstein touches my heart in a way which Ashkenazy does not.
The only other performer about whom I have similar feelings is Heifetz.
Another explanation is that I have grown inflexible with age.

Paul