Chopin: Scherzi, Etudes, Mazurkas

Czech pianist Ivan Moravec has long enjoyed a reputation among piano aficionados as one of the greatest living interpreters of Chopin (and Debussy). For whatever reason, he hasn't made all that many recordings, and the ones he has made have seldom appeared on major labels. We're very fortunate, then, that Dorian--a top quality independent label if ever there was one--has captured some of his finest Chopin interpretations in state-of-the-art sound. Moravec's marvelous sense of rhythm, his poetic phrasing, and keen feeling for the structure of each of these little gems is really second to none. This is extraordinary playing by any measure. --David Hurwitz