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Chopin Recital

Music / MP3
Chopin - Recital

1. Prelude No 18, Op 28 / 01_chopin_prelude_18_opus_28.mp3
2. Prelude No 2, Op 28 / 02_chopin_prelude_2_opus_28.mp3
3. Prelude No 14, Op 28 / 03_chopin_prelude_14_opus_28.mp3
4. Prelude No 4, Op 28 / 04_chopin_prelude_4_opus_28.mp3
5. Prelude No 5, Op 28 / 05_chopin_prelude_5_opus_28.mp3
6. Prelude No 8, Op 28 / 06_chopin_prelude_8_opus_28.mp3
7. Prelude No 19, Op 28 / 07_chopin_prelude_19_opus_28.mp3
8. Prelude No 20, Op 28 / 08_chopin_prelude_20_opus_28.mp3
9. Prelude No 23, Op 28 / 09_chopin_prelude_23_opus_28.mp3
10. Prelude No 24, Op 28 / 10_chopin_prelude_24_opus_28.mp3
11. Barcarolle, Opus 60 / 11_chopin_barcarolle_opus_60.mp3
12. Etude, Op 10, No 10 / 12_chopin_etude_opus_10_no_10.mp3
13. Etude in C, Op 10, No 7 / 13_chopin_etude_opus_10_no_7.mp3
14. Mazurka, Op 59, No 1 / 14_chopin_mazurka_opus_59_no_1.mp3
15. Mazurka, Op 59, No. 2 / 15_chopin_mazurka_opus_59_no_2.mp3
16. Mazurka, Op 56, No 1 / 16_chopin_mazurka_opus_56_no_1.mp3
17. Ballade No. 3, Op 47 / 17_chopin_ballade_no_3_opus_47.mp3

Review on MusicWeb International Website (October 2014)
A review of the CD reissue of this record by Forgotten Records (fr-998) appeared on the MusicWeb International website on October 9, 2014. Written by Stephen Greenbank, this review includes: "To each [Prelude] he brings a wealth of imagination and flair, and the more virtuosic ones (8, 19, 24) are dispatched with panache and flair." Read More.

Review in High Fidelity magazine (September 1960)
André Tchaikowsky is obviously a sensitive young pianist, but his playing on this disc is lumpy and undisciplined. He is apparently trying to simulate "originality" with capricious salon mannerisms and phlegmatic sentimentality, and the result here bears sad testimony to his present musical immaturity. The player's tonal palette is limited but RCA has reproduced it adequately.
H.G.

Recording Date(s):
10, 11, 12 March, 1959

Recording Location:
RCA Studios, New York City, NY USA

Release Date:
October, 1959

Known Details:
All 24 of the Opus 28 Preludes were recorded in a single take, however, André rejected for release Preludes 1, 3, 6, 7, 9 to 13, 15 to 17, and 21, 22. The remaining Preludes, 2, 4, 5, 8, 14, 18, 19, 20, 23 and 24, appear on this recording. Little is known of this Chopin recording session, but it is known that soon after the recordings session in New York City (10, 11, 12 March 1959), André was back in Chicago for concerts on 19, 20 and 24 March 1959. There, he played the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in G-minor, Opus 16. The reviewer for the Chicago Daily Tribune, Claudia Cassidy, reports:

André Tchaikowsky, the young Polish pianist whose debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra last season lit a fuse of highly inflammable virtuosity, returned Thursday night to play a stunning performance of Prokofiev's Second Concerto, under Fritz Reiner's clairvoyant direction. Mr. Tchaikowsky, who has grown taller and stronger, came charging out on stage as if he could hardly wait to get started. Once at the piano, he was instantly fully at ease, as born pianists are, knowing they have come home.

This 24-year-old, whose age means nothing but plenty of time, the gods willing, is altogether extraordinary. He has technique to burn, a big, commanding style. He has imagination, the inner ear to listen, the outgiving nature to share. His tone is full, rich, and sensitive, his was with a phrase intuitive, because such things are not learned in schools. In this entire concerto, which is full of booby traps for the dullard, he made no sound that was not the right sound, the sound the ear instinctively expected. It was, as played and saluted, a superb performance.

André was to play once more in Chicago this 1958-1959 season, after which he returned to Europe and never gave another piano recital in the USA, turning his back on America. André was just 23 years old.