Chopin: Nocturnes, Barcarolle, Fantaisie

Consequently, the pianist aims to read between the music's sentiments through ample rubatos, unorthodox accentuation, and inner drama. The results radically differ from Arthur Rubinstein's benign lyricism, much as Maria Callas's truth-or-dare approach to Bellini contrasted with Joan Sutherland's suave agility. Ornamental passages, for instance, are painstakingly spelled out and shaped in the form of rapid melodies, as in the Op. 55 No. 2 Nocturne's climactic chain of trills and the F-sharp Nocturne's middle-register accompanimental figures. In general, Arrau's grand solidity works best with the darker, more texturally elaborate selections. If the pianist's brooding, worried journey through the Barcarolle causes the music's sublime polyphony to sink upstream, the F Minor Fantasy radiates drive and heroism at every turn in one of Arrau's most inspired recordings. --Jed Distler