What Chopin should a Chopin beginner begin with?

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I have never listened to much Chopin, but I heard an Etude (No 2???) and was quite transfixed, so I would like to remedy this.

Of course, this is a matter of taste and suchlike idiosyncracies, but could any Chopin lovers here tell me what they think of as his loveliest works?

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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 9,951 • Replies: 31

hopefully somebody will get bach to you with a chopin liszt

i'm sorry i couldn't resist

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@dlowan,

Deb, I love all of Chopin's stuff. One of my favorites is Fantasy Impromptu. The middle part is what "I'm always chasing Rainbows" comes from.

Here's the nocturne that I have never heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3fgrNheimY&feature=related

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@dlowan,

Here are two I like, I'll try to find the rest of my favorites later.

Yundi Li plays Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2

Rachmaninoff plays Chopin Nocturne Op. 15 No. 2

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Don't be making false apologies, Dj, i know you Ravel in tripe like that . . .

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Thanks folks.

Letty, any other "must hears"?

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@Robert Gentel,

Victor Borge and Leonid Hambro Plays The Minute Waltz

This is a good Chopin, probably the first I'd select if introducing Chopin.

Funeral March (you'll recognize from cartoons, not a great one but a famous one)

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@Robert Gentel,

Quote:

Rachmaninoff plays Chopin Nocturne Op. 15 No. 2

Love this...will listen to others after work.

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

What Chopin should a Chopin beginner begin with?

What do you mean by "begin"? Listening or playing?

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@Thomas,

Listening!!!!

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I, Gargamel, take Chopin's "Raindrop Prelude"--Opus 28 Number 15--for my lawful, wedded wife.

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@dlowan,

My personal favorite, by a long shot, is Michelangeli's interpretation of ten Mazurkas, and a few other pieces. You can get an impression by searching YouTube for "Michelangeli Chopin", but CD, although not cheap, is well worth buying.

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@Thomas,

Just ordered it.

This means it better be good!!!

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One of the best places to start is the Nocturnes, and especially Artur Rubinstein's RCA recordings of them. These recordings have been the gold standard for the nocturnes from the day they were released.

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

Just ordered it.

This means it better be good!!!

Arrived today.

Haven't got down to listening, but I will be.

You know, I COULD have got it cheaply via Amazon's "second-hand" sellers....who often have brand new stuff very cheap. They're reliable in my experience with their goods descriptions, too.

Noticed too late, and Amazon wouldn't let me undo the order.

Oh well.

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@Shapeless,

Thank you Shapeless.I'm sorry...I seem to have missed your post until tonight.

What about the Etudes?

Do you think some parts of that collection really stand out?

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@Gargamel,

That is lovely, Kool Aid...thank you!

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@dlowan,

Tonight? You posted in the middle of the morning, futuregirl!

I don't think Rubinstein recorded the etudes. My favorite recordings of the etudes are from the dark ages before stereo, before LPs, and even before studios recorded music to magnetic tape. If you don't mind the sound this produces, I recommend the recordings of Alfred Cortot and Wilhelm Backhaus.

If you need things like stereo, freedom from hiss and crackle and so forth, your best choice is Pollini in my opinion.

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@Robert Gentel,

They are both lovely...

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@Thomas,

Just bought another.

Forget who.

Cheap and a good start I think....but thank you.

It's 11.50 pm Tuesday where the real people are.

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What Chopin should a Chopin beginner begin with?

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