Christian Zacharias is a gifted German pianist who is too much a musician to remain "just" a pianist. While his playing as a soloist has always been superlative, his performances as a part of a chamber ensemble have also always been superb, and he has even conducted, having been appointed principal guest conductor of the
Gothenburg Symphony. In this recording of both of
Chopin's piano concertos with the
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne,
Zacharias combines all three roles and combines them brilliantly. His playing of the solo parts is big-toned, tender-hearted, and note-perfect. Just as fine is his conducting, which balances orchestra with soloists and strings with winds and brass so that textures are always absolutely transparent, no small achievement in
Chopin's heavy orchestral writing. And even better is his chamber-music-like interplay with the ensemble. One gets the sense that every player is listening to every other player and the result is a performance of rare clarity and rarer sympathy. Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm's sound is typically translucent and characteristically crystalline.