Title:

Chopin: The Complete Etudes

Disk Number:
Chesky Records CD 77, DDD

Contents:
Chopin: The Complete Etudes
Twelve Etudes, Op.10
No.1 in C major
No.2 in A minor
No.3 in E major
No.4 in C-sharp minor
No.5 in G-flat major
No.6 in E-flat minor
No.7 in C major
No.8 in F major
No.9 in F minor
No.10 in A-flat major
No.11 in E-flat major
No.12 in C minor

Twelve Etudes, Op.25
No.1 in A-flat major
No.2 in F minor
No.3 in F major
No.4 in A minor
No.5 in E minor
No.6 in G-sharp minor
No.7 in C-sharp major
No.8 in D-flat major
No.9 in G-flat major
No.10 in B minor
No.11 in A minor
No.12 in C minor

Three Etudes without Opus number
No.1 in F minor
No.2 in A-flat major
No.3 in D-flat major

Artists:
Earl Wild piano

Recorded Date:
June 1992 in Fernleaf Abbey, piano: Baldwin
Producer:
Michael Rolland Davis
Engineer:
Ed Thompson
Piano Technician:
Paul Schopis

Wild’s long-awaited recording of the Etudes substantially alters the picture as far as preferred recordings are concerned. The veteran American virtuoso was 76 when these performances were taped, an age that would give most pianists pause if not cold fear at the suggestion of such an undertaking. But with Wild, technical command can be taken for granted: never is there a labored or insecure moment, nor is there any ugly tone, shallow bravura display, or descent into mechanical note-spinning. Wild’s emphasis is on a cohesive musical line, a euphonious piano sound, and a deftness and fluency that does not preclude an appropriate rise to the big moments.

Donald Manildi, American Record Guide, January 1993

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