mikhail pletnev chopin - piano sonata no.2 in b flat minor

I remain a devotee of the emotional, impulsive school of Chopin playing typified by Alfred Cortot, but after hearing this towering recording, I wouldn’t want to be without it.

No sign here of Chopin as neurotic, hearts-and-flowers romantic – Sageman seems intent on proving that Chopin’s genius extends to structural and harmonic innovations that almost two centuries later still have the power to shock. This recording is mightily impressive to anyone who can accept a more granitic, monumental view of this composer. A more probing artist can potentially be very off-putting. The competitions, with their decisions made by committee, have a tendency to settle on mainstream, flashy players who moderately please everyone and largely offend no one. In the intervening years, I have not heard anything of the higher prizewinners – yet here is Sageman, emerging as a fully-formed, thoughtful artist of power and control.

Caroline Sageman placed sixth in the International Chopin Piano Competition in 1990 (granted, she was only seventeen at the time). The finest artists rarely win the big international competitions.

Mikhail pletnev chopin - piano sonata no.2 in b flat minor