You have to admire RCA for putting out this performance of Chopin's "Funeral March" Sonata recorded in 1953 in Geelong, Australia, of all places. The recorded sound is frankly awful, extremely limited in color and dynamics with a layer of tape hiss as thick as burnt tomato sauce. But since William Kapell is playing and since Kapell left so very little recorded evidence of his playing, RCA decided to release this Funeral March as part of the Kapell Edition, Vol. 2. It was a wise decision. Its sonic flaws aside, this is one of the great recordings of the sonata: brilliantly virtuosic, darkly violent, and utterly despairing. The Grave opening of the first movement is enough to wake the dead with a second theme that longs for life. The Scherzo is truly demonic, skulking, and screaming its rage at life. The Marche funèbre itself is dramatic, heroic, lyrical, and not at all histrionic with a coda that'll leave you shuddering. And the pianissimo Presto finale is truly a wind across the grave. The rest of the performances on this disc are just as good, but, thankfully, mostly in much better sound. The Chopin Sonata No. 3 is as violent as the Sonata No. 2 with a Finale of diabolical power. While the disc is filled out with smaller pieces that Kapell plays at the same exalted level, the Chopin Waltz in E flat is a little stiff and the Nocturne in B flat is lovingly sung. Kapell's performance of Mendelssohn's song without words The Shepherd's Complaint sounds better than the piece is, his Schumann Romance is touchingly intimate, and his concluding Mozart Adagio is grandly lyrical. Another great volume in the Kapell Edition.
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