Search - Chopin, Castro :: Nocturnes 1

A fine set of nocturnes

Michael Whincop | GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, QLD AUSTRALIA | 10/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ricardo Castro is a Brazilian pianist, who has won laurels at several major competitions. In this and its companion disk, he offers us the 19 principal nocturnes, plus the posthumous works in c# and c. I enjoyed the set very much. Castro has a well rounded tone and phrases with a natural legato -- both are indispensable in this music. His interpretive choices are not controversial, but none the worse for being relatively central in their tradition. In works making bigger technical demands, like op. 48/1 (on the other disk), he rises to the occasion, and he captures the sense of elegant decay in works like op. 27/1. The works are very well recorded and the piano sound is fantastic.As a buying choice, if you are looking for a set of nocturnes, I wouldn't go past these for a set in modern sound. Rubinstein's classic pre-war EMI set and Fiorentino's superb Saga set are still my favourite sets, and of course there's plenty of superb individual nocturne recordings around (Sofronitsky, Cortot, Lipatti etc.) But you won't be disappointed with these."

Heavenly...

K. Mcgrath | Boston, MA USA | 07/14/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love the Castro recordings of Chopin's nocturnes. I've heard others, all laudable, excellent. But Castro's Chopin takes me somewhere the others never did. Somehow the phrase "unbearable lightness of being" pops into my head as a description, but perhaps that's not sufficient.I DO know that when I hear these pieces delivered by Ricardo Castro, I understand the reaction George Sand was depicted as having when she heard them from Chopin himself in one of my favorite movies, Impromptu (well worth renting, or dare I say buying).It is enlightening to hear the magnificent passion that flowed through Chopin delivered with this delicate hand in a way that knocks you over. That's what Castro delivers. Buy it, and set aside some very quiet time to be transported."