Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Berceuse En R� B�mol Majeur In D Flat Major, Op.57
2. Chant Plonais N� 12 'Moja Piesczotka'
3. Etude En Sol B�mol Majeur In G Flat, Op.10 N� 5
4. Etude En Sol B�mol Majeur In G Flat, Op.25 N� 9
5. Etude En La Mineur In A Minor, Op.25 N� 11
6. Impromtu N� 1 En La B�mol Majeur In A Flat Major, Op.29
7. Impromtu N� 2 En Fa Di�se Majeur In F Sharp, Op.36
8. Etude En La B�mol Majeur In A Flat Major, Op.25 N� 1
9. Valse N� 7 En Ut Di� Mineur In C Sharp Minor, Op.64 N� 2
10. Berceuse En R� B�mol Majeur In D Flat, Op. 57
11. Ballade N� 1 En Sol Mineur In G Minor, Op.23
12. Pr�ludes Op.28 N� 1 En Ut Majeur In C
13. Pr�ludes Op.28 N� 4 En Mi Mineur In Minor
14. Pr�ludes Op.28 N� 8 En Fa Di�se Mineur In F Sharp
15. Pr�ludes Op.28 N� 12 En Sol Di�se Mineur In G Sharp Minor
16. Pr�ludes Op.28 N� 17 En La B�mol Majeur In A Flat Major
17. Pr�ludes Op.28 N� 19 En La B�mol Majeur In E Flat Major
18. Pr�ludes Op.28 N� 24 En R� Mineur In D Minor
19. Sonate N� 3 En Si Mineur In B Minor, Op.58 I Allegro Maestoso
20. Sonate N� 3 En Si Mineur In B Minor, Op.58 II Scherzo (Allegro vvace)
21. Sonate N� 3 En Si Mineur In B Minor, Op.58 III Largo
22. Sonate N� 3 En Si Mineur In B Minor, Op.58IV Finale (Presto Non Tanto)

Disc 2:

1. Pr�lude En Sol Di�se Mineur In G Sharp Minor, Op.28 N� 12
2. Nocturne En Mi B�mol Majeur In E Flat, Op.9 N� 2
3. Sonate N� 2 En Si B�mol Majeur In B Flat Major, Op.35: I Grave-Allegro
4. Sonate N� 2 En Si B�mol Majeur In B Flat Major, Op.35: II Scherzo
5. Sonate N� 2 En Si B�mol Majeur In B Flat Major, Op.35: III Marche Fun�bre
6. Sonate N� 2 En Si B�mol Majeur In B Flat Major, Op.35: IV Finale (Presto)
7. Polonaise N� 6 En La B�mol Majeur In A Flat Major, Op.53
8. 4 Ballades N� 1 En Sol Mineur In G Minor, Op.23
9. 4 Ballades N� 2 En Fa Majeur In F MajorOp, 38
10. 4 Ballades N� 3 En La B�mol Majeur In A Flat Major Op,47
11. 4 Ballades N� 4 En Fa Mineur In F Minor, Op.52
12. Fantaisie En Fa Mineur In F Minor, Op.49
13. Tarentelle En La B�mol Majeur In A Flat, Op.43

Disc 3:

1. Barcarolle En Fa Di�se Majeur In F Sharp, Op.60
2. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 1 In C
3. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 2 In A
4. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 3 In E
5. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 4 In c Sharp
6. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 5 In G Flat
7. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 6 In G Flat
8. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 7 In E Flat
9. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 8 In F
10. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 9 In f
11. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 10 In A Flat
12. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 11 E Flat
13. 12 Etudes Op.10 N� 12 In C
14. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 1 In A Flat
15. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 2 In f
16. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 3 In F
17. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 4 In a
18. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 5 In e
19. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 6 In g Sharp
20. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 7 In c Sharp
21. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 8 In D Flat
22. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 9 In G Flat
23. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 10 In B Flat
24. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 11 In a
25. 12 Etudes Op.25 N� 12 In c
26. Valses N� 1 In E Flat, Op.18
27. Valses N� 5 In A Flat, Op.42
28. Valses N� 10 In b, Op.69 N� 2
29. Valses N� 14 In e, Op. Posth.

Disc 4:

1. Piano Con No. 2 En f Op.21 I Allegro
2. Piano Con No. 2 En f Op.21 II Larghetto
3. Piano Con No. 2 En f Op.21 III Allegro Vivace
4. Impromptu No.3 In G Flat, Op.51
5. 14 Valses No.1 In E Flat, Op.18
6. 14 Valses No.2 In A Flat, Op.34 No.1
7. 14 Valses No.3 In a, Op.34 No.2
8. 14 Valses No.4 In F, Op.34 No.3
9. 14 Valses No.5 In A Flat, Op.42
10. 14 Valses No.6 In D Flat, Op.64 No.1
11. 14 Valses No.7 In c Sharp, Op.64 No.2
12. 14 Valses No.8 In A Flat, Op.64 No.3
13. 14 Valses No.9 In A Flat, Op.69 No.1
14. 14 Valses No.10 In b, Op.69 No.2
15. 14 Valses No.11 In G Flat, Op.70 No.1
16. 14 Valses No.12 In f, Op.70 No.2
17. 14 Valses No.13 In D Flat, Op.70 No.3
18. 14 Valses No.14 In e, Op. Posth.

Disc 5:

1. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.1 In C
2. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.2 In a
3. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.3 In G
4. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.4 In e
5. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.5 In D
6. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.6 In b
7. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.7 In A
8. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.8 In f Sharp
9. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.9 In E
10. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.10 In c Sharp
11. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.11 In B
12. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.12 In g Sharp
13. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.13 In F Sharp
14. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.14 In e Flat
15. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.15 In D Sharp
16. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.16 In B Flat
17. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.17 In A Flat
18. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.18 In f
19. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.19 In E Flat
20. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.20 In c
21. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.21 In B Flat
22. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.22 In g
23. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.23 In F
24. 24 Pr�ludes Op.28 No.24 In d
25. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.1 In C
26. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.2 In a
27. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.3 In E
28. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.4 In c Sharp
29. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.5 In G Flat
30. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.6 In e Flat
31. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.7 In C
32. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.8 In F
33. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.9 In f
34. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.10 In A Flat
35. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.11 In E Flat
36. 12 Etudes Op.10 No.12 In c

Disc 6:

1. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.1 In A Flat
2. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.2 In f
3. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.3 In F
4. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.4 In a
5. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.5 In e
6. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.6 In g Sharp
7. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.7 c Sharp
8. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.8 In D Flat
9. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.9 In G Flat
10. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.10 In b
11. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.11 In a
12. 12 Etudes Op.25 No.12 in c
13. 2 ChantsPolonais Op.75 (Transcription F.Liszt):Printemps ('Wiosna')
14. 2 ChantsPolonais Op.75 (Transcription F.Liszt):L'Anneau ('Pierscien')
15. Nocturnes No.4 In F, Op.15 No.1
16. Nocturnes No.5 In F Sharp, Op.15 No.2
17. Nocturnes No.7 In c Sharp, Op.27 No.1
18. Nocturnes No.15 In f, Op.55 No.1
19. Nocturnes No.16 In E Flat, Op.55 No.2
20. 3 Nouvelles Etudes Pour La M�thode De Moscheles & F�tis No.1 In f
21. 3 Nouvelles Etudes Pour La M�thode De Moscheles & F�tis No.2 In D Flat
22. 3 Nouvelles Etudes Pour La M�thode De Moscheles & F�tis No.3 In A Flat
23. Pr�lude In c SHarp, Op.45

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162797 in Music
• Released on: 2002-08-05
• Number of discs: 6
• Formats: Box set, Import
• Dimensions: .88 pounds

Customer Reviews

A must for both Chopin lovers and piano enthusiasts
This box set, something very difficult to find in the real world, is a must(!) for anyone interested, historically speaking, in how these works should sound along with their evolution from the early 1900's to the present. Why is Cortot qualified for this role? His teacher was Louis Dermier, one of Chopin's last pupils and supposed one of his favourites. This means Cortot is in fact the grandson of the Chopin technique, learning from one who was directly intructed how to play these works. Beyond that, he is one of the most remarkable pianists of his or any time, often criticized from an overextensive rubato, but this is the essence of Cortot. He may be the most informed pianist of all time, not only dissecting the notes on the page, but the mind of the composer and the life at the time that each composition was invented.
Any enthusiast of Chopin must listen to these recordings with an open mind. At first you will shun them, unaccustomed to the way the pieces differ from today, but soon they will grow on you and you hear each piece as if for the first time, and yo realize how far off our modern pianists are from the truth of the music. Most are more tachnically perfect than Cortot, he was often missing or hitting wrong notes, but the emotion behind those notes is what is the real importance of the music, something lost in todays pianists. Someone once said I would rather hear a good pianists wrong notes than a bad pianists right ones. And I cannot think of a more perfect personification of that comment than Cortot. In my mind he ranks as one of the top five pianists of the recording era, along with Hofmann, Richter, Horowitz, Gilels, and Moiseiwitsch. But honestly, I find more enjoyment listening to Cortot than any other single pianist on record, and this cortot box set covers almost three fourths of his Chopin output, so if you enjoy this find his Emi References of the Impromptus, the two great pianists disc are wonderful transfers, the chamber music trio with Thibaudet and Casals, and for the real enthusiast with money, the prades festival contains his last recording which a perfectly flawed rendition of the Third Cello Sonata by Beethoven and a version of Bei Mannern(different than the naxos.)

You haven't really heard Chopin if you haven't heard Cortot!
Well, that may well be the case.

Cortot had won open admiration of Schiff, Cziffra, Michelangeli, Arrau, Solti... just to name a few. His pianism and his Chopin included is so incisive, with myriad of hues from coming from his subtle touch. And the poignancy is such that it is pure poetic ecstasy all through.

Talking about this album, despite the fact that Cortot had a long performing and recording career, the real obstacle is the archive sound. In this album we can have almost the best recording possible, with better transfer than most other trade names by far, be it Naxos or Aura, or whatever for the price of something like Naxos!

Note however that there is some grumble that EMI should instead chose his Preludes recorded in the 30s rather than those of the 40s, and EMI shouldn't have chosen his B Minor Sonata of recorded in the 50s when Cortot was declining... But in the latters we have better recordings and they are more bewitching even if slightless less staggering. Likewise, Barbirolli's accompaniment here may not be the most ideal, yet it is so fresh and so alive to say the least. On the whole, the recording and transfer is much better than what we have in Rachmaninov's box set by RCA.

Enormously enjoybale with so much to learn. And for those find the archive sound hard to bear with, do bear in mind that the pianist whom Schiff listen to most is Cortot, and before Cortot, it was Schnabel!

Must have!
This collection includes about 75% of Cortot's Chopin Recordings, which makes it the best value for anyone who doesn't already have these recordings. Several redundant recordings of works provide a glimpse into Cortot's mental makeup, and shows us just how much of his musical ideas change over time. Add to that the fact that most of the recordings are wonderful to listen to, and you have a must have recordings!