Chopin: Etudes Op.10 and Op.25 (Fialkowska)

A superb but not particularly well-known recording of the Chopin etudes. Fialkowska is the sort of pianist you don’t really hear about, but quietly goes about getting rave reviews and collecting the occasional award. Her playing is relentlessly confident and texturally creative, but without any hint of narcissism. There is nothing rote or etude-like about her playing -- her interpretations feature loads of \inventive musical decisions, all of which make for a revelatory musical experience. [Comments on individual etudes below, with particularly interesting ones asterisked.] Op.10 00:00 - No.1* – Note the clever decision to accelerate towards the end of the upward RH runs, creating the occasional illusion of only 3 beats in a bar and creating the sense of a single, unbroken, soaring line. 01:54 - No.2 03:15 - No.3 –Incredibly tender voicing, with a particularly dramatic middle section. 08:02 - No.4 – Pleasingly clear playing. Often the No.4 is burnt to a messy cinder, but here the playing is transparent and exciting throughout. 10:02 - No.5 – An atypically full-blooded account, with lovely legato playing, especially at moments like 10:37. 11:44 - No.6 – Nearly no pedal used throughout, to great effect. 16:22 - No.7 – A notoriously hard etude to interpret effectively, but this version is pretty amazing, with beautiful RH phrasing and perky figuration in the left. 17:51 - No.8* – A real tour de force. The most light and legato version I’ve ever heard. Note the gorgeous pianissimo playing in the D minor section, and the textural shifts at 19:29. 20:10 - No.9 – Played like a tone poem, with impressionistic freedom. 22:51 - No.10 – The textural variation between the staccato and legatissimo sections is pulled off perfectly. 25:07 - No.11 – Voicing! 28:02 - No.12*– A ferocious, overwhelming account. Note how Fialkowska at moments like 29:32 accents the E-flat at the peak of the LH run, which both adds drama and creates an aural overhang which prepares the sotto voce RH chords which come immediately after. And there's some very fine detached playing in the LH towards the end too. Op.25 30:48 - No.1– Beautifully muted, with judicious rubato. 34:02 - No.2 35:40 - No.3* – Taut, punchy, spectacular 37:26 - No.4 – A very brisk tempo, which Fialkowska exploits fully to let the melodic line sing. 38:58 - No.5* – Note how even in the first section Fialkowska varies the articulation of the theme hugely, from the detached 38:59 to the fully held notes of 39:24. 42:18 - No.6 – Yet again an astonishing tempo, but completely in service to the music, allowing Fialkowska to generate a sleek, glittering murmuration in the RH. 44:18 - No.7 – The climaxes are prepared to perfection, and the voicing is consistently flawless. Some really nice rubato too. 50:03 - No.8 51:09 - No.9 52:07 - No.10 56:18 - No.11*– One of the very best accounts. LH full of swagger, RH full of nimble ferocity + extremely fine dynamic control. 59:56 - No.12* – As with the very first etude, the sense is not of notes in succession, but a whole series of gorgeous runs, perfectly unbroken. The melody sings with unusual clarity.