Zimerman's Chopin: 'Excessive imagination'.. exists?!

The acclaimed pianist Krystian Zimerman, returns with this record to the Chopin concertos after he had previously recorded them with Giulini and the LA philharmonic back in 1979, which is still a classic. So I decided to return to it after these years and give it another listen, especially that it has been labeled Gramophone's choice.

Here the pianist is both pianist and conductor. Zimerman is said to have picked the orchestra players one by one for his recording, so a comment about the orchestral part is essential at first: you will hear very fine shadings and details in the orchestral parts you won't hear in other recordings of these concertos. Zimerman wants to refute the claims that Chopin -his compatriot-was a weak orchestrator. But the problem is that the orchestral part is not weak to begin with; it only served its simple, transparent goal of providing accompaniment to his main instrument. But Zimmerman transforms the "accompaniment" to symphonic bombast with ‘overprotective' phrasing.

As for the pianism, this disc features Zimerman at his best virtuosic and pianistic abilities. No one can doubt his magical touch and superb tone; and his clear, sparkling notes in filigree passage work; but what matters is the overall interpretation, which here, -although imaginative and innovative- disappoints.

Alas, the first movements suffer the most: excessive elaboration, extended pauses, sudden hushing pianissimos alternated with thundering fortissimos. The line breaks from much stretching and distortion of natural phrases. Second movements also suffer from unnecessary focus on the detail rather than the lyrical flow. The third movements, with their clever and lively character, turn up as the sole winners, benefiting from the pianist's wit and finesse, with fewer idiosyncrasies from the orchestra and the result is astounding.

I find myself entranced in the momentary beauty of the pianist's confident touch and the beautiful sound produced, but always lost as where we should be in the whole scheme of the phrase. In fact, I find myself enjoying the parts where the piano and orchestra play together the most, especially when you can hear the orchestral part as you won't hear it in any other recording. And I do think the third movements are from the best I've heard.

This recording is a recording of conflict: a conflict between the spirits of an introspective intimate composer and the performer's urge for drama and exaggeration. This conflict corresponds to an inner conflict inside of me: between my highest regard for the pianist's broad imagination, his masterful pianism (and baton!) on one hand, and my disagreement with his treatment of the overall form of these works on the other!