Artist: Claudio Arrau
Title: Claudio Arrau Performs Chopin
Year Of Release: 2003
Label: Philips
Genre: Classical
Total Time: 633:18 min

Astoundingly beautiful, Claudio Arrau's late Chopin recordings are, along with his late Debussy recordings, the peak of his art. Recorded mostly in the '70s and early '80s, Arrau's Chopin recordings catch him past his prime as a technician — although much of Chopin's solo piano music is here, the extremely difficult polonaises, the sonatas, and especially the etudes are conspicuous in their absence — but at the height of his powers as a poet. There are his radiant waltzes, his luminous preludes, his ravishing impromptus, his atmospheric ballades, and his evocative concertos with Eliahu Inbal directing the London Philharmonic. But above all, there are Arrau's sublime nocturnes, some of the most emotional, most soulful, most sensual, and most spiritual recordings of any piano music ever recorded. The warmth of his tone, the clarity of his phrasing, the depth of his sonorities, the utter inevitability of his tempos makes Arrau's nocturnes mandatory listening for anyone who loves piano music. And the inclusion of Arrau's 1953 U.S. Decca recordings of the impromptus, the ballades, the scherzos, and the barcarolle makes this set mandatory listening for even those folks who already have Arrau's later Chopin recordings. Decca's monaural sound is distant but clean enough; Philips' stereo sound is so honest and true that it's better than reality.

Performer: Claudio Arrau
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Eliahu Inbal
Composer: Frederic Chopin

Disc: 1
01. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 1 en ut majeur – in C
02. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 2 en la mineur – in A minor
03. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 3 en sol majeur – in G
04. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 4 en mi mineur – in E minor
05. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 5 en ré majeur – in D
06. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 6 en si mineur – in B minor
07. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 7 en la majeur – in A
08. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 8 en fa dièse mineur – in C sharp minor
09. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 9 en mi majeur – in E
10. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 10 en ut dièse mineur – in C sharp minor
11. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 11 en si majeur – in E
12. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 12 en sol dièse mineur – in G sharp minor
13. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 13 en fa dièse majeur – in F sharp
14. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 14 en mi bémol mineur – in E flat minor
15. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 15 en ré bémol majeur – in D flat
16. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 16 en si bémol mineur – in B flat minor
17. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 17 en la bémol majeur – in A flat
18. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 18 en fa mineur – in F minor
19. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 19 – en mi bémol majeur – in E flat
20. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 20 en ut mineur – in C minor
21. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 21 en si bémol majeur – in B flat
22. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 22 en sol mineur – in G minor
23. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 23 en fa majeur – in F
24. Preludes (24) for piano, Op. 28, CT. 166-189: No. 24 en ré mineur – in D minor
25. Impromptu for piano in A flat major, Op. 29, CT. 43
26. Impromptu for piano in F sharp major, Op. 36, CT. 44
27. Impromptu for piano in G flat major, Op. 51, CT. 45
28. Fantasy-Impromptu for piano in C sharp minor, Op. 66, CT. 46
29. Rondo à la krakowiak for piano & orchestra in F major, Op. 14, CT. 194

Disc: 2
01. Waltz for piano No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 18, CT. 207
02. Waltz for piano No. 2 in A flat major, Op. 34/1, CT. 208
03. Waltz for piano No. 3 in A minor, Op. 34/2, CT. 209
04. Waltz for piano No. 4 in F major, Op. 34/3, CT. 210
05. Waltz for piano No. 5 in A flat major, Op. 42, CT. 211
06. Waltz for piano No. 6 in D flat major (‘Minute’), Op. 64/1, CT. 212
07. Waltz for piano No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64/2, CT. 213
08. Waltz for piano No. 8 in A flat major, Op. 64/3, CT. 214
09. Waltz for piano No. 9 in A flat major (‘L’adieu’) Op. 69/1, CT. 215
10. Waltz for piano No. 10 in B minor, Op. 69/2, CT. 216
11. Waltz for piano No. 11 in G flat major, Op. 70/1, CT. 217
12. Waltz for piano No. 12 in F minor, Op. 70/2, CT. 218
13. Waltz for piano No. 13 in D flat major, Op. 70/3, CT. 219
14. Waltz for piano in A flat major, KK IVa/13, CT. 221 (B. 21)
15. Waltz for piano in E minor, KK IVa/15, CT. 222 (B. 56)
16. Waltz for piano in E flat major (spurious), KK IVa/14 (B. 46)
17. Waltz for piano in E major, KK IVa/12, CT. 220 (B. 44)
18. Waltz for piano in E flat major, KK IVb/10, CT. 223
19. Waltz for piano in E flat major (spurious), KK IVa/14 (B. 46)
20. Prelude for piano No. 25 in C sharp minor, Op. 45, CT. 190
21. Prelude for piano No. 26 in A flat major (‘Presto con leggierezza’), KK IVb/7, CT. 191 (B. 86)

Disc: 3
01. Scherzo for piano No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20, CT. 197
02. Scherzo for piano No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31, CT. 198
03. Scherzo for piano No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39, CT. 199
04. Scherzo for piano No. 4 in E major, Op. 54, CT. 200
05. Ballade for piano No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, CT. 2
06. Ballade for piano No. 2 in F major, Op. 38, CT. 3
07. Ballade for piano No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47, CT. 4
08. Ballade for piano No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, CT. 5

Disc: 4
01. Barcarolle for piano in F sharp major, Op. 60, CT. 6
02. Fantasy on Polish Airs for piano & orchestra in A major, Op. 13, CT. 41
03. Nocturne for piano No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 9/1, CT. 108
04. Nocturne for piano No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9/2, CT. 109
05. Nocturne for piano No. 3 in B major, Op. 9/3, CT. 110
06. Nocturne for piano No. 4 in F major, Op. 15/1, CT. 111
07. Nocturne for piano No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15/2, CT. 112
08. Nocturne for piano No. 6 in G minor, Op. 15/3, CT. 113
09. Nocturne for piano No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 27/1, CT. 114
10. Nocturne for piano No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27/2, CT. 115
11. Nocturne for piano No. 9 in B major, Op. 32/1, CT. 116
12. Nocturne for piano No. 10 in A flat major, Op. 32/2, CT. 117

Disc: 5
01. Nocturne for piano No. 11 in G minor, Op. 37/1, CT. 118
02. Nocturne for piano No. 12 in G major, Op. 37/2, CT. 119
03. Nocturne for piano No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48/1, CT. 120
04. Nocturne for piano No. 14 in F sharp minor, Op. 48/2, CT. 121
05. Nocturne for piano No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55/1, CT. 122
06. Nocturne for piano No. 16 in E flat major, Op. 55/2, CT. 123
07. Nocturne for piano No. 17 in B major, Op. 62/1, CT. 124
08. Nocturne for piano No. 18 in E major, Op. 62/2, CT. 125
09. Nocturne for piano No. 19 in E minor, Op. 72/1, CT. 126
10. Nocturne for piano No. 20 in C sharp minor, KK IVa/16, CT. 127 (B. 49)
11. Nocturne for piano in C minor, KK IVb/8, CT. 128 (B. 108)
12. Polonaise-fantasy for piano No. 7 in A flat major, Op. 61, CT. 156

Disc: 6
01. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, CT. 47: 1. Allegro maestoso
02. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, CT. 47: 2. Romance: Larghetto
03. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, CT. 47: 3. Rondo: Vivace
04. Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise for piano & orchestra, Op. 22
05. Variations on ‘La ci darem’ from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, for piano & orchestra in B flat major, Op. 2, CT. 225

Disc: 7
01. Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, CT. 48: 1. Maestoso
02. Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, CT. 48: 2. Larghetto
03. Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, CT. 48: 3. Allegro vivace
04. Fantasy for piano in F minor/A flat major, Op. 49, C. 42
05. Impromptu for piano in A flat major, Op. 29, CT. 43
06. Impromptu for piano in F sharp major, Op. 36, CT. 44
07. Impromptu for piano in G flat major, Op. 51, CT. 45
08. Fantasy-Impromptu for piano in C sharp minor, Op. 66, CT. 46
09. Barcarolle for piano in F sharp major, Op. 60, CT. 6

Disc: 8
01. Scherzo for piano No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20, CT. 197
02. Scherzo for piano No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31, CT. 198
03. Scherzo for piano No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39, CT. 199
04. Scherzo for piano No. 4 in E major, Op. 54, CT. 200
05. Ballade for piano No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, CT. 2
06. Ballade for piano No. 2 in F major, Op. 38, CT. 3
07. Ballade for piano No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47, CT. 4
08. Ballade for piano No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, CT. 5