Elisabeth Leonskaja - Chopin: Piano Music (2009) [SACD]

In this 2009 Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm disc, Elisabeth Leonskaja shows herself to be a representative of the Russian school of Chopin playing. In a programme mixing the 4 Scherzos with 5 Nocturnes & the Fantaisie-Impromptu, the Russian pianist presents Chopin as a composer of Sturm und Drang Romanticism more suitable for the opera stage than the drawing room, but her approach works. Leonskaja has virtuosity to burn — nothing in the tremendously difficult Scherzos slows her down — & a warmly sonorous & richly detailed tone that ideally suits the Nocturnes. It is her interpretations, though, that ultimately make her performances so successful. There is reckless bravery in her Scherzos, the kind of impetuosity that dares all to win all, that fits the pieces perfectly, & her emotionally sensitive readings of the Nocturnes are so vulnerable, so naked, that they are impossible to resist. Captured in deep, clear, vivid SACD sound by MDG, this disc should be heard by any admirers of the composer, particularly those who favour the Russian school.