A self-recommending six-disc set from Sony Classical is Murray Perahia plays Chopin which includes the Gramophone Award-winning disc of the Etudes. As Bryce Morrison said of that disc: ‘From Perahia there is order and lucidity at the heart of even Chopin’s most audacious fire-storms and…you are made more aware than ever of an incomparable mix of poetry and precision.’ And that could stand for this entire set—which contains the two concertos, Piano Sonatas Nos 2 and 3, the Ballades, the Preludes and many shorter works.
Chopin:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Ballades Nos. 1-4
Impromptus Nos. 1-4
Preludes (24), Op. 28
Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60
Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57
Fantasia in F minor, Op. 49
Prelude Op. posth. in A flat major (No. 26)
Études (12), Op. 10
Études (12), Op. 25
Waltz No. 1 in E flat major ‘Grande Valse Brillante’, Op. 18
Waltz No. 2 in A flat major ‘Grande Valse Brillante’, Op. 34 No. 1
Waltz No. 3 in A minor ‘Grande Valse Brillante’, Op. 34 No. 2
Waltz No. 4 in F major ‘Grande Valse Brillante’, Op. 34 No. 3
Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1
Mazurka No. 6 in A minor, Op. 7 No. 2
Mazurka No. 13 in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
Mazurka No. 23 in D major, Op. 33 No. 2
Étude Op. 10 No. 3 in E major ‘Tristesse’
Étude Op. 10 No. 4 in C sharp minor
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 ‘Marche funèbre’
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58