Alexander Brailowsky recordings of the 51 Chopin Mazurkas are only a shade less successful than Artur Rubinstein's great recordings of the 20th century
by Peter Dietrich, President, Chopin Society of New EnglandArtur Rubinstein (1887-1982) recorded 51 Chopin Mazurkas three times: first time in 1938/39 for EMI London, currently available of BMG vol. 6, second time in 1952/53 for RCA available on BMG vol. 27, and the third time in 1965/66 in stereo for RCA, available on BMG vol. 50. Each of the three times, they were the best, and they remain unsurpassed until now. Between 1960 and the present, more than 21 different pianists recorded 51 plus mazurkas. Among those 21 or more recordings ten can be rated as excellent performances with profound understanding and feeling of the Polish folk dances, which the genius of Fryderyk Chopin elevated to the highest form of art. The remaining recordings I have rated as varying from excellent, good to uneven performances.
The first group of ten outstanding recordings of the 51 Mazurkas or otherwise noted, all very highly recommended I will list according to their approximate date of release.
1) Henryk Sztompka - 1960, Polish Muza, 57 Mazurkas as part of the complete
Chopin edition
2) Ryszard Bakst - 1960, Westminster
3) Alexander Brailowsky - 1963, Columbia Masterworks and on CD Sony Music SBK 632, 1997
4) Ryszard Bakst - (2nd recording) 1970, Polish Muza, 58 Mazurkas
5) Nikita Magaloff - 1979, Philips, 57 Mazurkas - currently available only as an import
6) Yakov Fliere - 1979 (approx.) Russian Melodya
7) Eugen Indjic - 1988 Claves, 57 Mazurkas - Mr. Indjic, a younger colleague of mine, who studied with Alexander Borovsky at the same time as I between 1959 and 1964.
8) Jan Ekier - 1990, Polish Muza, 55 Mazurkas
9) Halina Czerny-Stefanska - 1994, Canyon, 57 Mazurkas
10) Fou Ts'ong - 1993, Sony Music, 57 Mazurkas, currently available on Sony Music SBK2 53246
There continues to be a certain belief and tradition that Chopin's music (particularly the Polonaises and Mazurkas) are most profoundly performed by Slavic pianists. Whether this is true is difficult to prove because there are always exceptions. Some French pianists, particularly Alfred Cortot (1877-1962) and German pianists, Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) and Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991) left us several very beautiful Chopin recordings included among them some Mazurkas. The same applies to the Italian pianist, Arturo Benedetti Michaelangeli (1920-1995) and others.
There are several recordings by pianists who performed only selected Mazurkas such as:
1) Vladimir Horovitz (1903-1989) 15 Mazurkas for RCA Victor, later Columbia
Masterworks at various times, all available on BMG and Sony Music; all played very beautifully, belonging to the great recordings of the 20th century
2) Witold Malcuzynski (1914-1977) 16 Mazurkas recorded for EMI Classics and
Polish Muza; equally distinguished and beautiful.
3) William Kapell (1922-1953) 29 Mazurkas for RCA Victor, played very
Beautifully and available on BMG Classics. Mr. Kapell was a very promising young American pianist whose career was cut short by his death in an airplane crash.
4) Milosz Magin (Polish pianist) 41 Mazurkas recorded for Decca in the 1970s
5) Fou Ts'ong (Chinese pianist) 18 Mazurkas, Westminster, 1960s, recorded before his complete set
6) Guiomar Novaes (Brazilian pianist) several Mazurkas, Vox label, 1950s
The last three above-mentioned recordings are very impressive.
Finally, we are going to discuss Garrick Ohlsson, who has recorded a complete Chopin edition. His recording of the Mazurkas, which are a part of this edition, are unfortunately not as impressive as I had hoped. Nevertheless, several of them are very beautifully played, with a profound understanding of the Polish folk dance form. Therefore, they belong to the above list of distinguished recordings.
After Artur Rubinstein's recordings of the Mazurkas, the Alexander Brailowsky set is the best of all the currently available versions. Mr. Brailowsky security of technique, wonderfully sonorous tone and clarity (a mark of a great artist) really do command attention. His ability to feel the music from various Polish regions is beautifully realized in his rendition of all the Mazurkas, recreating their specially varying moods, sometimes happy, other times melancholic or nostalgic, but always very beautiful. This about sums it all up for me.
The three juvenile Polonaises are played to perfection. You won't find similar performances no matter where you look. Superlatives! Unfortunately, the D minor Polonaise, Op. 71, No. 1 is abridged by Sony Music without any explanation as to why!
This spoils a great performance by Alexander Brailowsky. The two songs transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt are just played superbly. A "must-have" recording; simply brilliant!
