The Chopin Collection

unfortunately the amazon 'update product info' page doesn't include the ability to offer more accurate track listing information.their list needed cleaning up in a few places. i added disc numbers, and renumbered the tracks using the box set liner notes booklet disc & track listing for reference & verification. here are the results for anyone interested.Disc 11. Nocturnes Op.9 No.1 In B-Flat Minor2. Nocturnes Op.9 No.2 In E-Flat3. Nocturnes Op.9 No.3 In B4. Nocturnes Op.15 No.1 In F5. Nocturnes Op.15 No.2 In F-Sharp6. Nocturnes Op.15 No.3 In G Minor7. Nocturnes Op.27 No.1 In C-Sharp Minor8. Nocturnes Op.27 No.2 In D-Flat9. Nocturnes Op.32 No.1 In B10. Nocturnes Op.32 No.2 In A-FlatDisc 21. Nocturnes Op.37 No.1 In G-Minor2. Nocturnes Op.37 Nocturnes Op.373. Nocturnes Op.48 No.1 In C Minor4. Nocturnes Op.48 No.2 In F-Sharp Minor5. Nocturnes Op.55 No.1 In F Minor6. Nocturnes Op.55 No.2 In E-Flat7. Nocturnes Op.62 No.1 In B8. Nocturnes Op.62 No.2 In E9. Nocturnes Op.72: No.1 In E MinorDisc 31. Mazurkas Op.6 No.1 In F-Sharp Minor2. Mazurkas Op.6 No.2 In C-Sharp Minor3. Mazurkas Op.6 No.3 In E4. Mazurkas Op.6 No.4 In E- Flat Minor5. Mazurkas Op.7 No.1 In B-Flat6. Mazurkas Op.7 No.2 In A Minor7. Mazurkas Op.7 No.3 In F Minor8. Mazurkas Op.7 No.4 In A-Flat9. Mazurkas Op.7 No.5 In C10. Mazurkas Op.17 No.1 In B-Flat11. Mazurkas Op.17 No.2 In E Minor12. Mazurkas Op.17 No.3 In A-Flat13. Mazurkas Op.17 No.4 In A Minor14. Mazurkas Op.24 No.1 In G Minor15. Mazurkas Op.24 No.2 In C16. Mazurkas Op.24 No.3 In A-Flat17. Mazurkas Op.24 No.4 In B-Flat18. Mazurkas Op.30 No.1 In C Minor19. Mazurkas Op.30 No.2 In B Minor20. Mazurkas Op.30 No.3 In D-Flat21. Mazurkas Op.30 No.4 In C-Sharp Minor22. Mazurkas Op.33 No.1 In G-Sharp Minor23. Mazurkas Op.33 No.2 In D24. Mazurkas Op.33 No.3 In C25. Mazurkas Op.33 No.4 In B Minor26. Mazurkas Op.41 No.1 In C-Sharp MinorDisc 41. Mazurkas Op.41 No.2 In E Minor2. Mazurkas Op.41 No.3 In B3. Mazurkas Op.41 No.4 In A-Flat4. Mazurkas Op.50 No.1 In G5. Mazurkas Op.50 No.2 In A-Flat6. Mazurkas Op.50 No.3 In C-Sharp Minor7. Mazurkas Op.56 No.1 In B8. Mazurkas Op.56 No.2 In C9. Mazurkas Op.56 No.3 In C Minor10. Mazurkas Op.59 No.1 In A Minor11. Mazurkas Op.59 No.2 In A-Flat12. Mazurkas Op.59 No.3 In F-Sharp Minor13. Mazurkas Op.63 No.1 In B14. Mazurkas Op.63 No.2 In F Minor15. Mazurkas Op.63 No.3 In C-Sharp Minor16. Mazurkas Opus Posthumous In A Minor "À Emile Gaillard"17. Mazurkas Opus Posthumous In A Minor "Notre Temps"18. Mazurkas Op.67 No.1 In G19. Mazurkas Op.67 No.2 In G Minor20. Mazurkas Op.67 No.3 In C21. Mazurkas Op.67 No.4 In A Minor22. Mazurkas Op.68 No.1 In C23. Mazurkas Op.68 No.2 In A Minor24. Mazurkas Op.68 No.3 In F25. Mazurkas Op.68 No.4 In F MinorDisc 51. Ballades No.1 Op.23 In G Minor2. Ballades No.2 Op.38 In F3. Ballades No.3 Op.47 In A-Flat4. Ballades No.4 Op.52 In F Minor5. Scherzos No.1 Op.20 In B Minor6. Scherzos No.2 Op.31 In B-Flat Minor7. Scherzos No.3 Op.39 In C-Sharp Minor8. Scherzos No.4 Op.54 In EDisc 61. Polonaises Op.26 No.1 In C-Sharp Minor2. Polonaises Op.26 No.2 In E-Flat Minor3. Polonaises Op.40 No.1 In A "Military"4. Polonaises Op.40 No.2 In C Minor5. Polonaises Op.44 In F-Sharp Minor6. Polonaises Op.53 In A-Flat "Heroic"7. Polonaise-Fantaisie Op.61 In A-FlatDisc 71. Sonata No.2 Op.35 In B-Flat Minor "Funeral March" Grave; Doppio Movimento2. Sonata No.2 Op.35 In B-Flat Minor "Funeral March" Scherzo3. Sonata No.2 Op.35 In B-Flat Minor "Funeral March" Marche FunÈBre: Lento4. Sonata No.2 Op.35 In B-Flat Minor "Funeral March" Finale: Presto5. Sonata No.3 Op.58 In B Minor Allegro Maestoso6. Sonata No.3 Op.58 In B Minor Scherzo: Molto Vivace7. Sonata No.3 Op.58 In B Minor Largo8. Sonata No.3 Op.58 In B Minor Finale: Presto Non Tanto9. Fantaisie Op.49 In F MinorDisc 81. Concerto No.1 Op.11 In E Minor Allegro Maestoso2. Concerto No.1 Op.11 In E Minor Romance: Larghetto3. Concerto No.1 Op.11 In E Minor Rondo: Vivace4. Concerto No.2 Op.21 In F Minor Maestoso5. Concerto No.2 Op.21 In F Minor Larghetto6. Concerto No.2 Op.21 In F Minor Allegro VivaceDisc 91. Waltz Op.18 In E-Flat "Grande Valse Brillante"2. Waltzes Op.34 No.1 In A-Flat "Valse Brillante"3. Waltzes Op.34 No.2 In A Minor "Valse Brillante"4. Waltzes Op.34 No.3 In F "Valse Brillante"5. Waltz Op.42 In A-Flat "Two-Four"6. Waltzes Op.64 No.1 "Minute" In D-Flat7. Waltzes Op.64 No.2 In C-Sharp Minor8. Waltzes Op.64 No.3 In A-Flat9. Waltzes Op.69 No.1 In A-Flat "L'adieu"10. Waltzes Op.69 No.2 In B Minor11. Waltzes Op.70 No.1 In G-Flat12. Waltzes Op.70 No.2 In F Minor13. Waltzes Op.70 No.3 In D-Flat14. Waltz Opus Posthumous In E MinorDisc 101. Impromptus No.1 Op.29 In A-Flat2. Impromptus No.2 Op.36 In F-Sharp3. Impromptus No.3 Op.51 In G-Flat4. Impromptus No.4 Op.66 In C-Sharp Minor "Fantaisie-Impromptu"5. Barcarolle Op.606. Trois Nouvelles ÉTudes Opus Posthumous7. Bolero Op.198. Berceuse Op.579. Tarantelle Op.4310. Andante Spianato And Grand Polonaise Op.22 In E-FlatDisc 111. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.1 In C2. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.2 In A Minor3. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.3 In G4. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.4 In E Minor5. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.5 In D6. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.6 In B Minor7. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.7 In A8. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.8 In F-Sharp Minor9. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.9 In E10. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.10 In C-Sharp Minor11. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.11 In B-Major12. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.12 In G-Sharp Minor13. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.13 In F-Sharp14. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.14 In E-Flat Minor15. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.15 In D-Flat "Raindrop"16. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.16 In B-Flat Minor17. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.17 In A-Flat18. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.18 In F Minor19. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.19 In E-Flat20. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.20 In C Minor21. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.21 In B-Flat22. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.22 In G Minor23. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.23 In F24. Preludes Op.28 Prelude No.24 In D Minor25. Sonata No.2 In B-Flat Minor Op.35 "Funeral March" Grave; Doppio Movimento26. Sonata No.2 In B-Flat Minor Op.35 "Funeral March" Scherzo27. Sonata No.2 In B-Flat Minor Op.35 "Funeral March" Marche FunÈBre: Lento28. Sonata No.2 In B-Flat Minor Op.35 "Funeral March" Finale: Presto29. Berceuse Op.5730. Barcarolle Op.60

There may be a way of enhancing your life better than by spending $30 on this magical set, but I don't know what it is. If you want to take your life out of the mundane, just place any of the first ten discs of this collection in your player and settle back to be transported to a higher realm of being. Rubinstein's playing transcends playing - the sense that the music is playing itself rather than being "interpreted" is as strong as I have experienced. Some reviewers find it a little too low-voltage, and if you like your Chopin to be restless, mercurial, searching, and echt-romantic, this may not be quite to your taste. I think, however, that Rubinstein gets closer to the heart of this music with his luminously natural approach than rivals who make the music sound "complex". Rubinstein makes these pieces sound simpler than anybody else - a good thing because it's a sure sign he's making them a unity rather than a more-or-less miscellaneous collection of phrases and sections. This is especially true of some of the longer and more involved works: the Ballade No.1, for instance, regularly sounds as if the performer has pulled out the guns too early as they start banging away with abandon on the first climax only to make the remaining five minutes or so sound messy and anti-climactic. Rubinstein, by contrast, opens in highly poetic mode as if it's one of the Nocturnes, holds back on the first climax, but then builds and builds the piece, makes the presto section a natural outgrowth of the rest of the piece rather than sounding tacked-on, and gives the final chords a sense of apocalyptic inevitability that eludes almost every rival performance I've heard.And it's this sense of inevitability that distinguishes almost every one of these performances: that, and the singing line Rubinstein constantly conjures out of the piano. The "Bel Canto" aspect is especially true of the Nocturnes and Waltzes but just try the middle-sections of the Scherzos, the 1st Piano Concerto, the Sonata No.2, to hear how Rubinstein excels in the cantabile aspect so important to this composer. You will "get" the melodies easily, even in the pieces you may be unfamiliar with. In fact, the best measure of a performance may be how quickly you learn the music from it. A bad performance has you listening numerous times to get the music but with Rubinstein a couple of listens is all you require.The sound, likewise, is mostly treasurable. Sure, it's dated but the slight overlay of RCA 60's brittleness doesn't spoil the underlying velvety airiness of the sound. It "floats" and whispers. I find it more suited to Chopin than almost every modern recording I know.Caveats? Disc 11, comprising recordings from 1946 of the Preludes, the Sonata No.2, the Barcarolle, and the Berceuse, is more a historical curiosity than a real musical experience (the clattery sound doing more damage to Chopin than any other composer) and the Etudes aren't here. For an almost-complete Chopin, you'll need outside performances of the Preludes and Etudes (I recommend Ashkenazy), but apart from those puzzling omissions (why didn't he record these glorious works in stereo?), this collection is just about everything you could ask for. It's as perfect a box-set as I've ever heard.

It's romantic. It's fun. It's beautiful, It's real.