Louis Lortie Plays Chopin: Volume 4 - Waltzes, Noctumes (2015)

This is the fourth volume of Louis Lortie’s highly successful series devoted to Chopin. The recording perfectly illustrates how Chopin elevated the waltz to a genre of musical art, from danses de salon – evocative of a genial milieu – to ‘works’ with proper opus numbers. Growing up in the 1820s, the composer at first viewed the waltz purely pragmatically, as a means to a social end in the dance salon. But after spending time in Vienna and Paris in the 1830s he decided that a waltz might be worthy of the deeper appreciation accorded a ‘work’.

From moods of liveliness, in introductory calls to the dance, to more poetical or sentimental sections, the affective achievement in these works is great, whether the mood captured is plaintive (the B minor, A flat major, or F minor ones), evocative of the dance salon (the E major), lilting (the D flat major), reminiscent of a Ländler (the A flat major, the only waltz Chopin composed in 3 / 8 meter), dramatic (the E minor), or brilliant (the G flat major).

The nocturnes also trace their origins to the salon. The genre derives from a type of vocal music, akin to the solo romance, but highly popular among amateurs as an opportunity for singing duets.

With this series, Louis Lortie has made his reputation as a ‘model Chopinist’ (BBC Music).

Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Louis Lortie

The fourth volume of what promises to be a complete Chopin piano music survey from Louis Lortie contains five nocturnes and the 19 waltzes. Lortie devises a running order that mixes and matches the works to achieve variety and contrast. For example, the youthful E-flat waltz (the one that Michelangeli often played as an encore) emerges like a ray of sunshine following the wistfully lyrical B minor Op. 69 No. 2, while the short, lightheartedly flashy posthumous A-flat waltz serves as a cameo-like bridge between the grand, multithematic E-flat Op. 18 and A-flat Op. 34 No. 1 waltzes.

In general, Lortie is at his elegant best. He lovingly lingers over phrases in the posthumous A minor waltz as if he’s reluctant to let the bittersweet phrases go. As with the B-flat minor Op. 9 No. 1 nocturne, Lortie’s E minor waltz is supple and small of scale, in contrast to more dynamic, surging interpretations. Lortie’s brisk, liberally-pedaled F minor waltz imparts a floating, almost weightless character to the work. Similarly, the flexible, well-proportioned A minor Op. 34 No. 2 waltz never drags, and the F major Op. 34 No. 3’s “dog chasing its tail” right-hand runs are doled out with remarkable evenness and control.

The A-flat Op. 42 goes swimmingly by any standard, although a wider dynamic scope and bigger climaxes would have elevated the performance from memorable to irresistible. However, Lortie illuminates the B major Op. 32 No. 1 nocturne’s dark undercurrents by way of pronounced yet logical modifications of the basic pulse. His uptempo way with the A-flat Op. 64 No. 3 waltz reminds me a little of Rachmaninov’s similarly paced, poker-faced interpretation.

Of the two Op. 37 nocturnes, I prefer Lortie’s G minor for its introspective simplicity. The G major is quite pretty on the surface (the beautifully pointed chromatically descending notes in the left hand, for example), but Ashkenazy’s greater breadth and more incisive right-hand double notes get more out of the music. One also could imagine additional rhythmic kick to the central mazurka section in Lortie’s sensitively shaded posthumous C-sharp minor nocturne. The smooth and discreetly resonant engineering complements Lortie’s artistry. All told, this release is an enticing, albeit lower-voltage, alternative to recent Chopin waltz cycles from Stephen Hough and Alexandre Tharaud, with a generous 83-minute total playing time.

Tracklist:

01 - Waltz No. 19 in A Minor, Op. posth. : Waltz No. 19 in A Minor, Op. posth. 2:31
02 - Waltz No. 14 in E Minor, Op. posth. : Waltz No. 14 in E Minor, Op. posth. 2:44
03 - Waltz No. 15 in E Major, Op. posth. : Waltz No. 15 in E Major, Op. posth. 1:53
04 - Waltzes, Op. 69 : Waltzes, Op. 69: Waltz No. 10 in B Minor, Op. 69, No. 2 2:58
05 - Waltz No. 17 in E-Flat Major, Op. posth. : Waltz No. 17 in E-Flat Major, Op. posth. 2:17
06 - Waltzes, Op. 70 : Waltzes, Op. 70: Waltz No. 11 in G-Flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1 2:07
07 - Waltzes, Op. 70 : Waltzes, Op. 70: Waltz No. 12 in F Minor, Op. 70, No. 2 2:36
08 - Waltzes, Op. 70 : Waltzes, Op. 70: Waltz No. 13 in D-Flat Major, Op. 70, No. 3 2:35
09 - Waltz No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. posth., Sostenuto : Waltz No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. posth., Sostenuto 1:52
10 - Grande valse brillante in E-Flat Major, Op. 18 : Grande valse brillante in E-Flat Major, Op. 18: Waltz No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 18, Grande 5:01
11 - Waltz No. 16 in A-Flat Major, Op. posth. : Waltz No. 16 in A-Flat Major, Op. posth. 1:38
12 - Waltzes, Op. 34 : Waltzes, Op. 34: Waltz No. 2 in A-Flat Major, Op. 34, No. 1, Valse 5:04
13 - Waltz No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 34, No. 2, 'Valse brillante' : Waltzes, Op. 34: Waltz No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 34, No. 2, Valse 5:18
14 - Waltzes, Op. 34 : Waltzes, Op. 34: Waltz No. 4 in F Major, Op. 34, No. 3, Valse 2:12
15 - Waltzes, Op. 69 : Waltzes, Op. 69: Waltz No. 9 in A-Flat Major, Op. 69, No. 1, L'adieu 3:45
16 - Waltz No. 5 in A-Flat Major, Op. 42 : Waltz No. 5 in A-Flat Major, Op. 42 3:37
17 - Nocturne No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9, No. 1 : Nocturnes, Op. 9: Nocturne No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9, No. 1 5:52
18 - Waltzes, Op. 64 : Waltzes, Op. 64: Waltz No. 6 in D-Flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1, Minute 1:44
19 - Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. Posth. : Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. posth. 4:10
20 - Nocturnes, Op. 32 : Nocturnes, Op. 32: Nocturne No. 9 in B Major, Op. 32, No. 1 5:11
21 - Waltzes, Op. 64 : Waltzes, Op. 64: Waltz No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2 3:12
22 - Waltzes, Op. 64 : Waltzes, Op. 64: Waltz No. 8 in A-Flat Major, Op. 64, No. 3 2:44
23 - Nocturnes, Op. 37 : Nocturnes, Op. 37: Nocturne No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 37, No. 1 6:34
24 - Nocturnes, Op. 37 : Nocturnes, Op. 37: Nocturne No. 12 in G Major, Op. 37, No. 2 5:43