Perfection
Music Lover | W. Europe , USA | 05/14/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As Ms Kern continues to mature, her music continue to improve.
First, you owe it to yourself to listen to this superb, special, one-off "Yamaha" 9 ft. grand that the company built for her. I have never heard of any other piano that sounds like it. It has a ringing tone to the strings, very beautiful, but I digressed.... sorry !
Chopin's music is very difficult to express, not too easy to play but manageable. Most of the time, a so so pianist would come out flat, but this is incorrect. Chopin's music is extreme, A super loud passage which one has to bang it out, then followed by the most delicate, soft, almost fragile tune. Played it wrong, the music can ruin your day. Played it correctly, especially with character, it will carry you day. This is the case here. my daily does of sanity.
In this CD, she plays Chopin's Sonata number 2 and 3. I was at her recital in San Francisco, CA on April 11, 2010, and the Sonata No. 2 was the anchor piece. It was absolutely beautiful, except the seat that I was in wasn't that great, plus the less than desirable acoustic at the Herbst Theater, the performance was less than stella, though it wasn't her fault.
Now I have the CD, I am able to catch each and every note that Ms Kern put into the Sonatas.
My favorite is the third movement of the Sonata No. 2, the Marche funebre : Lento. This is a tear jerker. I weep every time I listened to it.
The entire sonata no.3 is mesmerizing.
Her touch, her technique, the articulation, intonation and interpretation and especially the use of the middle pedal, how she chooses to let a note lingers, while letting the right chords fly is both breath-taking and simply beyond belief. I enjoy this CD so immensely. I have to listen to it several times a day. However, in order to FULLY enjoy her super talent, it is best to listen to the CD at night after everyone in the family went to bed, and EACH note is a music by itself.
This new CD, the Sonatas are recorded by hormonia mundi, better than her Chopin Concerto except for the four little trailer pieces. Heaven on earth! How can it be?? I have no idea. But the pleasure I derived from this CD just made me order a second one from Amazon. The one I am playing now is signed by Ms Kern, so I would not use it anymore.
My personal rating for Ms Kern is : She is one the greatest pianists we have at this moment, I do not have a good dose of Chopin since Dino Lupati's waltzes. I know this is a very opinionated statement, but I hope it would not be too far from the truth.
If you like Chopin, you must consider buying this new release as well as her other one, the Chopin Concerto No. 1. What a joy. If you are a Rach fan, oh boy, she is putting out Rach 1,2,3 & 4 in Russia in the very near future, FINALLY!!!
I cannot recommend this more highly.
Enjoy ! :-)
A music lover, like you.
"
You might find it bizarre.
K. MIURA | Japan | 07/23/2010
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Chopin
Piano Sonatas nos. 2 & 3
Olga Kern
2010 harmonia mundi usa
She plays two kinds of pianos (Steinway Model D, Yamaha Model CFIIIS).
Opus 35 is recorded in 2005 and opus 58 in 2008.
I think the new album of Olga Kern, released after a long time since the latest one, is a failure. If you request usual Chopin here, you might find it bizarre. I am her fan, but I am bored with this album. I think that she had a sharp sense of smell to get characteristics of masterpieces, but I cannot find it from these Chopins. I cannot find delicacy too."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1