David Dubal's 'Conversations with Arrau' (3 of 6): Chopin

The third in a series of six radio programs titled "Conversations with Arrau" hosted by David Dubal on WNCN-FM, New York. This program is focused on the music of Chopin.
David Dubal can be contacted at daviddubalsociety [at] gmail
A book titled ‘Selected Paintings and Drawings of David Dubal’ is available for sale at Amazon:
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To access David Dubal's Wikipedia page, please click on the link below: en.wikipedia.o...
Recordings of piano performances by David Dubal and Stanley Waldoff, released on the ArkivCD label, can be purchased from ArkivMusic at:
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David Dubal hosts "The Piano Matters," a program devoted to piano music, which can be heard at wwfm.org on Wednesdays at 10 PM and Sundays at noon. Archived programs of "The Piano Matters" are accessible as webcasts at:
www.wwfm.org/p...
For more information on WNCN-FM and photographs of its staff, please visit the WNCN-FM website www.wncn.org/

[@guigui9344]

Prelude n16 wow!

[@marcosviniciosribeirocompo1137]

The MASTER of the Masters !!!

[@bachopinbee5991]

The most pianistic pianist imo.

[@meredith218461]

The Fantasy in F minor is wonderfully played.

[@dongraf1613]

The Emperator!

[@nonickname5012]

oh that opus55-2 by arrau. my favourite. i cry.

[@rysegs4498]

Marvelous performance of the Ab Ballade.

[@johnschlesinger2009]

I find it overly heavy. Some listeners who heard Chopin said that his playing was understated: Chopin replied: "I suggest: the listener must complete the picture". Arrau I think, overstates: his playing of Chopin, to my ears, sounds laboured, and there are too many rhythmic liberties. In the great works of Liszt - the sonata, B minor ballade, Valee d'Obermann, Petrarca, Transcendental Etudes, and other works, his playing is divine, as in Brahms, and Beethoven. Arrau, in his own words, said one must play everything. I think that is unrealistic. For my ear, Cortot's performance of the third ballade approaches the ideal. I also remember an amazing performance by Cherkassky: the final statement of the opening theme was completely unpercussive.

[@ProfDrislane]

@@johnschlesinger2009 I find that in the same way the Horowitz often played Chopin as if it was Scriabin, Arrau can take a neo-Wagnerian or Brahmsian approach in this music, which is very late 19th Century in affect. Still, Chopin can usually survive this approach, and sometimes there are genuine revelations to be heard..

[@adamblock5141]

Wow