Rubinstein Collection, Chopin, Preludes

Artur Rubinstein was a Chopin specialist and recorded the composer's work often throughout his very long career. But he only recorded the complete 24 Preludes once, in 1946, and that is the recording we have here. (All the other material on the CD was recorded the same year, albeit at different times.) The Preludes are wonderful little works, none longer than four and a half minutes. Rubinstein is particularly masterful in the popular Nos. 19 and 20, which can sound too familiar; he makes us hear them anew. I also wouldn't want to be without the fiery No. 8 or the elegant No. 11, and elsewhere there are fine details to be found as well. As for the other works, the big Sonata, op. 35, is a gem, with its oft-heard but always gripping Funeral March and its overt theatricality, which Rubinstein takes full advantage of. He may have added more depth (and the sound is certainly fuller-bodied and clearer) in his later recordings, but his energy and brilliant technique were never better than they are here. --Robert Levine