Chopin Piano Sonatas - Good Sound

This is Portuguese pianist Artur Pizarro's fourth recording for Linn. He plays with bravura and sensitivity, bringing visceral flair and drive to such passages as the first movement of Chopin's second sonata, and insight and lyricism to items such as the Barcarolle. Pizarro's tempo for the famous Marche funèbre movement of the second sonata seems a bit slow at first, but the pianist's superb control and shading of dynamics make sense of it by the time the movement is finished. Overall, his style is overt and dashing, and I find it preferable to many of the precious, more introspective readings of this music that I have heard. The sound is first class, with solid lows and a sparkling high end that is never brittle. Part of this effect might be attributed to the piano, which is not the usual Steinway but a Blüthner, manufactured in Leipzig in what used to be East Germany. The two-channel tracks are very rich and detailed, but the multichannel tracks have a greater sense of presence....