This album is a budget-priced reissue of part of
Leif Ove Andsnes' 1992 recording of all of
Chopin's sonatas, and it's really worth more than its price compared to similar recordings.
Andsnes' playing is always technically smooth, clear, and naturally expressive without being forced, overly sentimental, or overwrought. The drama in the opening of the Sonata No. 2 is
Beethoven-like in sound and scope. The openings of the Scherzo of Sonata No. 2 and the Finale of Sonata No. 3 are powerful and energetic, but not frantic. Even the rapid figures in that Finale are not as frenzied as others make them. The more powerful moments contrast with those of gentle, lyric softness.
Andsnes' sensitivity allows the contrasts to be great, but not jarring, with a sense of shape and structure within each movement and each Sonata.
Andsnes proves that
Chopin's sonatas are as substantial as those of earlier Romantic composers, and also as beautiful as
Chopin's shorter works.