Customer Rating:  
Summary: Not my preference, bordering on boring
Comment: So this is my first Chopin CD and if this is a fairly complete sampling of his type of work, then I'm not a fan. The pianist is skilled and does a good job in playing the work so my critique is not about him. I just didn't like the compositions. There was just not much to grab on to - I did not come out of listening to it humming anything I just heard. And since most was very short, just when I thought Chopin may have had a motif going, the piece ends without the motif being developed (or even just repeated).
There seemed to me to be two types of compositions on the CD: fast, finger agility exercises and slow, arppeggiated chords progressions. The fast ones do show the pianist's virtuosity but is just not enjoyable to listen to, not like say, Flight of the Bumble Bee, which can show virtuosity but is a joy to listen to. The slow pieces on the other hand sounds to me just like the piano accompaniment part of a duet or small combo. I was wanting for a melodic instrument (oboe, clarinet, violin, etc) to be playing a good melody above those slow pieces.
As for using it to relax, it's just too annoying and boring to me for it to be even relaxing. Sorry, Chopin fans, give me Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, or Vivaldi any day.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Chopin a very unique pianist
Comment: Fryderyk Chopin was a concert pianist who created his own compositions. They are as sad as they are beautiful. This record allows the melancholy of the composer and pianist to really show. It is well recorded and seems to attempt to portray the artist music with it full intensity.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Chopin's Harmonies
Comment: I found this cd to be a great listening tool when working on Chopin's Preludes. The pianist is very sensitive to the Romantic musical style, allowing for a sense of understanding of some of the most difficult harmonies of the 19th century. Highly recommended!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Relaxation
Comment: This beautiful music was purchased for relaxation and it is perfect for that. I play it while reading or getting ready for sleep.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bravo!
Comment: Sheer poetry. Barto slows down the slow preludes, much to their advantage, finding in them more beauty and meaning than you previously thought was there. Listening to them is like watching a rose open in slow motion. But to make this succeed as a cycle, and to maintain overall scale, he has to pull back on some of the faster pieces, to their minor disadvantage. A real winner!
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