CHOPIN: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3; Scherzo No. 2; Nocturne No. 13; Nocturne No. 14 – Sergei Edelmann, piano – Triton

by | Jul 27, 2012 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 2 in b-flat, Op. 35; Piano Sonata No. 3 in b, Op. 58; Scherzo No. 2 in b-flat, Op. 31; Nocturne No. 13 in c, Op. 48:1; Nocturne No. 14 in f-sharp, Op. 48:2 – Sergei Edelmann, piano – Triton stereo-only SACD OVCT-00074 (2 discs), 39:46, 49:34 [Distr. by Allegro] ****:
After reviewing Edelmann’s previous Chopin disc I expected much of the same on this one, and was not disappointed. Though Edelmann is not a risk taker, and spends much more effort in dotting the “I”s and crossing the “t”s, the approach works very well in his Chopin and only moderately in his Bach. 
These two modestly-filled discs give fine accounts of the two canonical sonatas while spicing the stew with a lilting B-flat minor Scherzo and two cautiously crafted Nocturnes. Chopin has enough fancy and adventure built-in that one need not take a ride on the wild side in order to properly present him, and some pianists that do take the risk end up sounding woefully willful and even distorting. Edelmann knows his boundaries and has a firm set of guiding principles in mind before his fingers touch the keyboard, and the results are good, solid, and moving Chopin without any excesses.
These are stereo-only SACDs, and like the previous one is nicely formatted for crystal clear piano sound, even though surround is definitely missed. Well worth acquiring. [Most SACDs of Japanese origin will now be stereo only since that market has little interest in surround sound systems. As witness the luxury SACD decks from Marantz and others…Ed.]
—Steven Ritter

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