CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11; No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 – Sa Chen, Piano/ Gulbenkian Orchestra/ Lawrence Foster – PentaTone

by | May 28, 2010 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews | 0 comments

CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11; No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 – Sa Chen, Piano/ Gulbenkian Orchestra/ Lawrence Foster – PentaTone Multichannel SACD PTC5186341, 72:55 (+ DVD) (Distr. by Naxos) ****:

A native from Chongqing, China, Chen Sa had established herself as a world-class pianist in the recent decade. Ms. Chen caught the world’s attention when she won the Crystal Prize at the 12th Van Cliburn Piano Competition in 2005, before which was a prize-winner at the Leeds Competition (1996) and the 4th International Chopin Competition (2000); the latter of which the “Best Polonaise Award” was awarded to her. An audience present during the occasion remarked on her interpretation of that very Chopin Polonaise-Fantasy in A Flat as a signature demonstration of a masterly expositor of Chopin’s lyrical spirit. Ever since, Ms. Chen had made a name for herself as a keynote interpreter of Chopin’s works, amongst many other compositions she embraced. Listeners could easily pinpoint those standing qualities that distinguished her attractive playing in this recording: the delicacy of her touch, her polished rounded phrases, a fluency of her expression and an introspective character of lyrical repose.

Recorded in Lisbon in July 2008, the Chopin Piano Concerti were accompanied by the Gulbenkian Orchestra under the directorship of Lawrence Foster. This release revisited a close relationship between Chen Sa and the Polish composer; together, the musicians expressed themselves in one unified language, a language easily mistaken to be their mother tongue. Those who recalled Ms. Chen‘s début disc “Chopin Impression” on JVC will find this Pentatone recording a welcome inclusion to her discography. The Chopin Concerti were signatures in the musical canon that highlighted Ms. Chen at the peak of her artistic excellence: from her fluent exchange of alternating dialogues with the orchestra in the first movement of the E Minor Concerto, to her splendid sense of the folk mazurka in the exuberant finale movement of the F Minor Concerto, sandwiched between two sugar-sweet Larghetto movements where our pianist released the emotional high points with nascent unrequited love, full-bodied with endless poetry. How stunning also was the orchestral tremolandi in the Larghetto of the F Minor Concerto, as an anxious storm of emotion swirled by the poet’s songlike recitative. Throughout the two compositions, the music danced and ebbed as required; here was a level of musicianship from Ms. Chen as “playing like an angel from heaven.” Surely, these examples would have justified why this recording easily rivalled in excellence the recent release of the pianist’s compatriot Lang Lang.

What also sold the performances here was Chen Sa’s skillful ability to capture the youthful spirit endogenous to Chopin’s writing style of this period, plus her ability to harbour clear signs of the composer’s maturing style. This dichotomy between youth and maturity unfolded itself successively, particularly in the F Minor Concerto. Ms. Chen’s approach reflected three such unique levels of development: oppositions of pianist vs. composer, overt virtuosity vs. restrained lyricism, and contrast between Classical form vs. Romantic reinterpretation. This confluence of seemingly opposing traits lent this work its characteristic power. Chen Sa has earned a reputation based on playing of this calibre. An excellent DVD interview with Gramophone Editor James Jolly also accompanied this recording.  A vintage not to be missed!

— Patrick P.L. Lam

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