Chopin Reminiscences - Pizarro - Audiophile Audition

The extra star for exceptional marks this as one of the most enjoyable Chopin collections on a disc I have heard. Pizarro made many recordings for the former Collins Classics label and has made two previous Beethoven SACDs for Linn Records. He has a forceful and energetic style which commands attention and brings out the poetry in these familiar and unfamiliar Chopin works. I don't believe I have ever heard a more thrilling Heroique Polonaise. Part of the rich and silky sound must be that Pizzaro records on the Blüthner concert grand, which is free of the treble brittleness heard even with most European Steinways on recordings. Linn's micing might also help in that regard, although the perspective is again extremely close to the piano, making the instrument wider on the soundstage than normal.