KEMPFF PLAYS CHOPIN: Kempff’s only recordings of music by Chopin were for Decca and then (1950s) as now, they continue to divide opinion. While certainly not of the perfumed variety, Kempff’s Chopin is straightforward while still poetic, gallant rather than passionate. The three original Decca LPs are combined on a 2CD set.
‘some serenely beautiful playing along the way, most notably in the Berceuse, Barcarolle and Ballade No 3 . . . unaffected, crystalline clarity of thought’ International Piano
‘delectable delicacy in the Berceuse and the Nocturne, likewise in the magic “waterfalls” of the C sharp minor Scherzo and the gracefully streaming right-hand tracery of the Impromptus – all four of them so refreshingly free from drawing-room coquetry.’ Gramophone
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1Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor Op. 35 Funeral March
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2Impromptu No. 1 in A flat major Op. 29
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3Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp major Op. 36
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4Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major Op. 51
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5Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor Op. 66
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6Berceuse in D flat major Op. 57
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7Barcarolle in F sharp major Op. 60
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8Nocturne No. 3 in B major Op. 9 No. 2
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9Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor Op. 39
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1Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58
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2Ballade No. 3 in A flat major Op. 47
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3Andante spianato and grande Polonaise in E flat major Op. 22
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4Fantaisie in F minor Op. 49
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5Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat major, Op 61