Chopin: The Complete Waltzes [Enhanced]

There is no denying how talented Ingrid Fliter is in her latest recording of Chopin's Waltzes. It takes a true pianist who understands the underlying emotions in Chopin's Waltzes to perform them correctly. Ingrid Fliter is a pianist who understands. She has a raw talent of being able to translate these simple dance forms into a set of art works of great beauty. The entire recording is simply spellbinding. The music seems to flow from her naturally. With power and delicacy as well as a spectrum of tonal coloring, this recording marks her out as one of the most instinctive and eloquent Chopin interpreters playing today.

I've heard Ingrid Fliter's previous recordings and attended a recital that featured Chopin and Schumann. As a winner of the prestigious Gilmore Award, she certainly qualifies as a star in the making. Here one notices a dedication to making Chopin sound new and fresh. That's admirable, because without new insights, music cannot survive for the next generation of musicians or listeners. Her approach features an emphasis on rubato -- Fliter isn't shy about expressive flexibility -- and she applies a certain fierceness of attack here and there. In this she's not as consistently brilliant as Argerich or as eccentric as Anderszewski and Pletnev. I admire original interpretations, and if to you those three pianists seem to go overboard, Fliter may be just right.

I am of mixed mind about hearing all of Chopin's waltzes at one go. He certainly didn't intend for them to be played that way. A problem is posed if you are going to present them as a group. Should you aim to fashion a recital that is as varied as possible in terms of tempo, tone, and individuality? Or should you approach the program more like an archivist, recognizing that most of the waltzes are far more similar than they are different? Fliter takes the first path, and I must say, even a classic collection like the one on EMI from Dinu Lipatti sounds monochromatic by comparison. Fliter does as much as possible to contrast each waltz with the ones around it. About the only constant is her continuous sense of urgency -- Lipatti and Rubinstein aim at more charm and salon sophistication.

Fliter can also sound a bit brittle and efficient. A stylist like Cortot or William Kapell in his famous set of Mazurkas plays more from the inside, with instinctive emotional connection to the music. Fliter, for me, is admirable without being charismatic. (Compare and contrast the charmismatic young Kissin, in his Carnegie Hall Chopin recitals on RCA -- he dashes off the first Grande valse brillante to thrilling effect.) Others may disagree, of course.

The very fact that one has to reach for comparison with great Chopin interpreters suggests how good Fliter is. In concert I wasn't mesmerized by her playing, but it's hard for me to fault this thoughtful, highly musical CD.

After her 2008 Chopin/EMI release, it's no surprise at all that Fliter's 2009 traversal of the Waltzes tenaciously establishes her as a pianist whose perception, individuality and consummate artistry are to be reckoned with, especially in a repertoire replete as it is with available recordings and ardent admirers. Favorite performances may seem now to somehow pale by comparison, and for a new artist this is no small measure of accomplishment. As Fliter boldly rings in the opening notes of Op. 18, one is more than transfixed by the frisson of what feels like live music-making--- exuberant, intense, emotional--- and by the innate awareness that these "dances of the heart" will, under her hands, become a breathtaking reality.The wistful, melancholic waltzes irrefutably confirm this initial impression with their haunting, world-weary nostalgia--- so clearly brimming with profoundly lyrical resignation--- transmuted by Fliter into pieces of astonishing depth and humanity. Her unaffected instinct for and understanding of this music extends to the simplest pieces, as well, continuing such a natural and delicately nuanced ebb and flow that the works become utterly irresistible.

The inclusion of the somewhat spurious twentieth waltz, a splendidly enchanting addition to the canon (first recorded by Garrick Ohlsson in 1996 on Arabesque), adds yet another reason to herald this new CD.

Throughout, Fliter's potential is uncompromised, her mastery admirable. All her ear-tickling "eccentricities," curious hesitations and pauses, clarity of voicing, and her surprising use of various manuscript variants make for an exceptional Chopin pianist--- and very few of same have been intrepid enough to peer as deeply into the Waltzes as Fliter does, nor to bring to them such an entirely new and transcendental meaning so very far removed from the salon.

[Running time: 67:55]

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 8 reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars