I’ve often asked myself: why does someone like a recording which someone else does not? Could it be that there is more to appreciate than interpretation, virtuosity, and recorded quality? These are indeed the prime tools of a reviewer. Though even with these more or less objective yardsticks, opinions can differ considerably. Perhaps luckily so. Otherwise, a single release (the best, of course) of the same would already do. Musical life would be pretty miserable, and most, if not all, labels would soon be out of business.

All this crossed my mind when a new release of both Chopin’s piano concertos reached my player. Not that the recording is new. It dates back to 2003 (Concerto No. 2) and 2004 (Concerto No. 1), when Christian Zacharias was still the pianist-conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (2000-2013). But at the time, it was not available in High-Definition. Reading comments on the original CD from serious yet critical reviewers, they could not have been more different, proving my above observations. Indeed, personal perception enters the equation. I have mine, too.

Maybe not so well known, but in every way a particularly exciting rendition by a Japanese period orchestra: ‘Classical Players Tokyo’, under the baton of Masahiro Arita, and, completing the all-Nippon cast, Ikuyo Nakamichi at the grand piano (released by Denon in 2010). I valued her reminiscences of Polish legends. Perhaps not surprising: Nakamichi finished fifth in Warsaw’s Chopin contest. The orchestra follows suit, albeit perhaps a shade too enthusiastically. But that makes it all the more thrilling.

With this MDG release, yet another aspect of judgment comes to the surface. Reading Werner Dabringhaus’ liner notes, it becomes clear that there is a nostalgic element attached to this reissue: “to present recordings which are very important to me personally”.

All it means is that beyond the traditional benchmarks, there is so much more that can make a performance ‘special’. In that sense, I don’t think MDG intends to compete with the usual suspects like Martha Argerich or Kristian Zimmermann and the heroes of the past. Releasing these two concertos in the newly created Preziosa series rather seems to mark MDG’s respect for an artist who has given so much to the world of classical music.

Some like the lyrical Chopin, some the passionate. To me, he is both. While in exile, he has pleased many in the Paris ‘Salons’ with his lyrical Mazurki, showing elsewhere his passionate feelings for the oppressed Polish people in his ‘Revolutionary’ Polonaise, whereas his poetic and compassionate attachment to his home turf is expressed in these concertos, in particular the second.

Although I would have given preference to an interpreter who connects with the Polis soul, I can understand that some will appreciate Zacharias virtuosic performances, which were, after all, Chopin’s ‘raison d’être’ of composing these concertos in the first place. By releasing these in the new Preziosa series, I believe that, seen in that light, Werner Dabringhaus is right, even if it weren't 'personally': these concertos are precious.

Blangy-le-Château, Normandy, France.

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