Chopin Piano Music

Directors have long struggled to find ways of making performances of solo piano works visually as well as musically interesting. In the case of this BBC Wales production, the approach is to place the artists in sumptuous surroundings (Hopetoun House, Edinburgh; Ch(teau de Neuville, Gambais; and Wimbledon Theatre, London) and then have the camera prowl around the elegant spaces, eventually coming to rest on the performers (or, in one case, having her simply appear as if by magic at the keyboard). Over the long haul, however, all of the motion here becomes less of a distraction than a bore. Even so, one would be willing to put up with the visual malfeasance if the performances were exceptional, but they're not: the best playing comes from Angela Hewitt, better known for her Bach, whose reading of the B-minor or “Funeral March” Sonata is fluent and perceptive; by contrast, Alfredo Perl's run-through of the Op. 28 Pr(ludes and Freddy Kempf's playing of the Op. 10 and 25 Etudes are alternately insensitive and rushed, with too many smudges and curious turns of phrase. As there are many fine audio versions of these works currently available from the likes of Rubinstein and Ashkenazy, it would be perverse to prefer these lesser renderings simply because they're accompanied by pretty visuals. Presented with DTS or LCPM stereo sound, but no extras, this is not a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)