Alfred Cortot: The Master Pianist

EMI's new 7-CD "Icon" box gathers together all od Cortot-Thibaud-Casals chamber music and Brahms double concerto, with a selection of Cortot's most admired solo recordings, many in re-masterings from 2006-2008 in startlingly vivid sound with brilliant treble and full bass ... Cortot's famous patented bass rumbles are all there ... with no frying bacon scratch, very little surface noise, and no audible compression. To connoisseurs of the piano and Cortot admirers, it's what I call a mandatory purchase. Debussy's Preludes Book I and Ravel's Sonatine are among the best things here, and the fabulous Chopin playing by one of the great pianists of the last century. Full booklet and recording details. The two Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies from Cortot's absolute prime have seldom if ever been played with such fun and hilarity. Although many collectors, including this one, have long had all the contents in other pressings and re-masterings, these are particularly enjoyable in the new 2006-2008 re=masterings.For those who don't yet know Cortot, his daring, bravura, and imagination, with exquisite tonal shadings and phrasings will come as a delight.

EMI has re-released quite a lot of rather ancient recordings in it's "Icon" series, which represent excellent value for money. This 7- CD set contains a representative selection of Cortot's recorded legacy, with one serious omission. Alfred Cortot is best remembered for his Chopin recordings and the trio he formed with Pablo Casals on 'cello and Jacques Thibaud on violin.Here we have one disc of Chopin, another of Debussy and Ravel, and one of Liszt from the solo recordings. The remainder are sonatas and trios from Beethoven, Schubert, Franck, Debussy, Faure, Haydn, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Schumann. These are all great recordings and do rather make me think of pre-world war two drawing rooms, tea, and cucumber sandwiches (which is, I guess, where the original 78's would have been listened to). Actually, there are some pretty firey performances here, particularly in the Liszt.The remasters are OK, some of which were, I believe, done for the Japanese collectors market, but some are 20 years old now and I suspect that Ward Marston or Mark Obert-Thorn might have done a little better on the more recent Naxos Historical reissues though I have yet to hear them. The sound is quite acceptable, most of the time, and the use of noise reduction software has not been too intrusive.Despite their antiquity, these recordings deserve to be heard and beat the pants off some of the recent CDs issued by bright young things. Well worth adding to the collection.The serious omission? Cortot's Robert Schumann (wrong notes and all!). This is, however, easily put right by purchasing and Andromeda set The Schumann Recordings (Cortort, Lso, Ronald) for little money, despite the lack of, ahem, provenance! The Schumann Recordings (Cortort, Lso, Ronald)

Certes,le coffret se veut un hommage au seul pianiste, mais quand même : que n'eut-on rajouter deux voire trois petites galettes et l'on avait en un seul ogjet le quasi tout du plus grand trio de l'histoire de la musique.

やはり録音が古いので音が✖️あー良い演奏だと聞き惚れていると音が劣化して来ることが多々ある。独自の解釈で力強く、演奏は素晴らしいモノだけに残念だ。