Alfred Brendel's crisp, efficient playing and Classical orientation might seem ill-suited to
Chopin, and listeners who like traditional Romantic interpretations, filled with ebbing and flowing rubato, surging crescendi, thundering climaxes, and heavy pedaling, may find this album of five polonaises dry and unappetizing. Yet there are many ways to interpret
Chopin, and there is reason to think that
Brendel's approach may be closer to
Chopin's ideals than later pianists of the Lisztian mold ever understood or observed. This pianist's precise articulation, rhythmic clarity, and controlled tempi square with the recollections of
Chopin's students, and
Brendel's modest piano sonorities are fair approximations of the smaller Pleyel sound the composer knew. If this sounds academic or suggests the music is constrained, hearing these Polonaises proves otherwise. The performances are fluid and graceful, and though emotions are understated, they are still expressed through subtle nuances and flexible phrasing. The Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53, and the Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op. 44, are the boldest readings, but the moodier Polonaise in C minor, Op. 40, and the Polonaise-Fantasie, Op. 61, balance them; and poetic reverie and stately elegance are united in the Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise, Op. 22. Vanguard's SACD offers clear sound and solid presence, and the 1968 masters are greatly enhanced.