Samson François: Chopin – Piano Works (10 CD box set, FLAC)

Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Samson François
Orchestra: Monte Carlo National Opera Orchestra
Conductor: Louis Fremaux
Audio CD
SPARS Code: ADD
Number of Discs: 10 CD box set
Format: FLAC (image+cue)
Label: EMI Classics
Size: 2.34 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

CD 01
Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor, op.11
01. I. Allegro maestoso
02. II. Romanze: Larghetto
03. III. Rondo: Vivace

Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, op.21
04. I. Maestoso
05. II. Larghetto
06. III. Allegro vivace

CD 02
01. Polonaise No.1 in C sharp minor Op.26 No.1
02. Polonaise No.2 in E flat minor Op.26 No.2
03. Polonaise No.3 in A major Op.40 No.1
04. Polonaise No.4 in C minor Op.40 No.2
05. Polonaise No.5 in F sharp minor Op.44
06. Polonaise No.6 in A flat major Op.53
07. Polonaise No.7 in A flat major ‘Polonaise-Fantaisie’ Op.61
08. Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brilliante in E flat major Op.22

CD 03
01. Polonaise in D minor Op.71 No.1
02. Polonaise in B flat major Op.71 No.2
03. Polonaise in F minor Op.71 No.3
04. Fantaisie in F minor Op.49
05. Tarentelle in A flat major Op.43
06. Barcarolle in F sharp major Op.60
07. Rondo for 2 pianos in C major Op.73 (with Pierre Barbizet)

CD 04
01. Ballade No.1 in G minor, op.23
02. Ballade No.2 in F major, op.38
03. Ballade No.3 in A flat major, op.47
04. Ballade No.4 in F minor, op.52
05. Scherzo No.1 in B minor, op.20
06. Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor, op.31
07. Scherzo No.3 in C sharp minor, op.39
08. Scherzo No.4 in E major, op.54

CD 05
01. Waltz No.1 in E flat major, op.18 ‘Grande Valse brillante’
02. Waltz No.2 in A flat major, op.34 no.1 ‘Valse brillante’
03. Waltz No.3 in A minor, op.34 no.2
04. Waltz No.4 in F major, op.34 no.3
05. Waltz No.5 in A flat major, op.42
06. Waltz No.6 in D flat major, op.64 no.1
07. Waltz No.7 in C sharp minor, op.64 no.2
08. Waltz No.8 in A flat major, op.64 no.3
09. Waltz No.9 in A flat major, op.69 no.1
10. Waltz No.10 in B minor, op.69 no.2
11. Waltz No.11 in G flat major, op.70 no.1
12. Waltz No.12 in F minor, op.70 no.2
13. Waltz No.13 in D flat major, op.70 no.3
14. Waltz No.14 in E minor, op.posth.
15. Impromptu No.1 in A flat major, op.29
16. Impromptu No.2 in F sharp major, op.36
17. Impromptu No.3 in G flat major, op.51
18. Impromptu No.4 in C sharp minor, op.66 ‘Fantaisie-Impromptu’

CD 06
Sonata no.2 in B flat minor, Op.35
01. 1. Grave – Doppio movimento
02. 2. Scherzo
03. 3. Marche funebre, Lento
04. 4. Finale, Presto

Sonata no.3 in B minor, Op.58
05. 1. Allegro maestoso
06. 2. Scherzo, Molto vivace
07. 3. Largo
08. 4. Finale, Presto ma non tanto

09. Mazurka No.1 – F sharp minor, Op.6 No.1
10. Mazurka No.2 – C sharp minor, Op.6 No.2
11. Mazurka No.3 – E major, Op.6 No.3
12. Mazurka No.4 – E flat minor, Op.6 No.4
13. Mazurka No.5 – B flat major, Op.7 No.1
14. Mazurka No.6 – A minor, Op.7 No.2
15. Mazurka No.7 – F minor, Op.7 No.3
16. Mazurka No.8 – A flat major, Op.7 No.4
17. Mazurka No.9 – C major, Op.7 No.5
18. Mazurka No.10 – B flat major, Op.17 No.1
19. Mazurka No.11 – E minor, Op.17 No.2
20. Mazurka No.12 – A flat major, Op.17 No.3
21. Mazurka No.13 – A minor, Op.17 No.4
22. Mazurka No.14 – G minor, Op.24 No.1
23. Mazurka No.15 – C major, Op.24 No.2
24. Mazurka No.16 – A flat major, Op.24 No.3
25. Mazurka No.17 – B flat minor, Op.24 No.4

CD 07
01. Mazurka No.18 – C minor, Op.30 No.1
02. Mazurka No.19 – B minor, Op.30 No.2
03. Mazurka No.20 – D flat major, Op.30 No.3
04. Mazurka No.21 – C sharp minor, Op.30 No.4
05. Mazurka No.22 – G sharp minor, Op.33 No.1
06. Mazurka No.23 – D major, Op.33 No.2
07. Mazurka No.24 – C major, Op.33 No.3
08. Mazurka No.25 – B major, Op.33 No.4
09. Mazurka No.26 – C sharp minor, Op.41 No.1
10. Mazurka No.27 – E minor, Op.41 No.2
11. Mazurka No.28 – B major, Op.41 No.3
12. Mazurka No.29 – A flat major, Op.41 No.4
13. Mazurka No.30 – G major, Op.50 No.1
14. Mazurka No.31 – A flat major, Op.50 No.2
15. Mazurka No.32 – C sharp minor, Op.50 No.3
16. Mazurka No.33 – B major, Op.56 No.1
17. Mazurka No.34 – C major, Op.56 No.2
18. Mazurka No.35 – C minor, Op.56 No.3
19. Mazurka No.36 – A minor, Op.59 No.1
20. Mazurka No.37 – A flat major, Op.59 No.2
21. Mazurka No.38 – F sharp minor, Op.59 No.3
22. Mazurka No.39 – B major, Op.63 No.1
23. Mazurka No.40 – F minor, Op.63 No.2
24. Mazurka No.41 – C sharp minor, Op.63 No.3
25. Mazurka No.42 – G major, Op.67 No.1
26. Mazurka No.43 – G minor, Op.67 No.2
27. Mazurka No.44 – C major, Op.67 No.3
28. Mazurka No.45 – A minor, Op.67 No.4
29. Mazurka No.46 – C major, Op.68 No.1
30. Mazurka No.47 – A minor, Op.68 No.2
31. Mazurka No.48 – F major, Op.68 No.3
32. Mazurka No.49 – F minor, Op.68 No.4
33. Mazurka No.50 – A minor
34. Mazurka No.51 – A minor

CD 08
Etude Op.10
01. No.1 in C major
02. No.2 in A minor
03. No.3 in E major
04. No.4 in C sharp minor
05. No.5 in G flat minor
06. No.6 in E flat minor
07. No.7 in C major
08. No.8 in F major
09. No.9 in F minor
10. No.10 in A flat major
11. No.11 in E flat major
12. No.12 in C minor

Etude Op.25
13. No.1 in A flat major
14. No.2 in F minor
15. No.3 in F major
16. No.4 in A minor
17. No.5 in E minor
18. No.6 in G sharp minor
19. No.7 in C sharp minor
20. No.8 in D flat major
21. No.9 in G flat major
22. No.10 in B minor
23. No.11 in A minor
24. No.12 in C minor

Nouvelles Etudes, Op. posth.
25. No.1 – F minor
26. No.2 – D flat major
27. No.3 – A flat major

CD 09
01. Nocturne No.1 in B flat major, op.9 no.1
02. Nocturne No.2 in E flat major, op.9 no.2
03. Nocturne No.3 in B major, op.9 no.3
04. Nocturne No.4 in F major, op.15 no.1
05. Nocturne No.5 in F sharp major, op.15 no.2
06. Nocturne No.6 in G minor, op.15 no.3
07. Nocturne No.7 in C sharp minor, op.27 no.1
08. Nocturne No.8 in D flat major, op.27 no.2
09. Nocturne No.9 in B major, op.32 no.1
10. Nocturne No.10 in A flat major, op.32 no.2
11. Nocturne No.11 in G minor, op.37 no.1
12. Nocturne No.12 in G major, op.37 no.2
13. Nocturne No.13 in C minor, op.48 no.1

CD 10
01. Nocturne No.14 in F sharp minor, op.48 no.2
02. Nocturne No.15 in F minor, op.55 no.1
03. Nocturne No.16 in E flat major, op.55 no.2
04. Nocturne No.17 in B major, op.62 no.1
05. Nocturne No.18 in E major, op.62 no.2
06. Nocturne No.19 in E minor, op.72 no.1

Preludes, op.28
07. No.1 in C major
08. No.2 in A minor
09. No.3 in G major
10. No.4 in E minor
11. No.5 in D major
12. No.6 in B minor
13. No.7 in A major
14. No.8 in F sharp minor
15. No.9 in E major
16. No.10 in C sharp minor
17. No.11 in B major
18. No.12 in G sharp minor
19. No.13 in F sharp major
20. No.14 in E flat minor
21. No.15 in D flat major
22. No.16 in B flat minor
23. No.17 in A flat major
24. No.18 in F minor
25. No.19 in E flat major
26. No.20 in C minor
27. No.21 in B flat major
28. No.22 in G minor
29. No.23 in F major
30. No.24 in D minor

Excellent, Eccentric Chopin

The Chopin “Piano Works” featured in this 10 CD set from EMI’s “Budget Box Series” are excellent, yet eccentric. Those used to the romance and poetry of Rubinstein, the deliberateness and precision of Horowitz, or the power and grace of Pollini may well be in for a shock when it comes to Samson Francois’ Chopin. The Piano Concertos, performed with Louis Fremaux conducting the Monte Carlo National Opera Orchestra from 1965 (and available as a single disc in EMI’s “Great Recordings of the Century” series) are strikingly different from accounts I am more familiar with by Argerich, Bachauer and Gilels. To say their defining characteristic is that they are more French sounding is an understatement. The highlight of this set, which by the way is not a “complete” volume of all of Chopin’s piano music, has to be the Ballades (though, like much of the material in this set they are in mono) and the Nocturnes (in stereo from 1966). In turn, the low point is most certainly the Mazurkas — Artur, where are you when we need you? In all, this is certainly an amazing musical document, and at this budget price, a nice alternative to more accepted readings. But my five-star rating comes with the caveat that this Box Set is not for those looking for there one and only Chopin collection.