Odd reviewing The Chopin Project by Olafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott (2015) as most of my reviews included an AUDIOPHILE angle. There is nothing to shout about in terms of recording canvas as it is anything but pure. Instead, period (analogue) recording technology of yesteryear was employed. Venue wise, it was far away from pristine studio level quiet canvas and background noise was ad nauseum in some of the tracks. The chief instrument that produced most of the content was an old and slightly out of tune piano in place of the common modern day Steinway with pristine tonality. The musical interpretation was not of any historically informed genre either.
Two things attracted me to this recording while audio surfing through my Spotify account kindly extended to me by my daughter. The composer Chopin and secondly the pianist Alice Sara Ott.
Chopin's music fills great concert halls and recording studios but this particular recording is unique in more ways than one.
This is not another recording that boasts of puritanical interpretation or purports to be closer to what Chopin had in mind when the music was written. Of the nine tracks on this recording only 3.5 tracks are majority based on mainstream scoring of Chopin and the remainder are the artists' re-interpretations of
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 : Largo,
Nocturne No. 20 in C♯ minor, Op. posth,
Nocturnes, Op. 37,
Nocturne No. 21 in C minor, B. 108 (partially).
The main thing that jump out of the recording making it worth a listen is the artists' ability to achieve a high level of originality without scarring the roots from which the music was based on. This delicate balance can be seen on tracks 3 and 4 which is bridged together as one with the latter aptly titled Reminiscence being a re-encounter of the motif of of former.
Track 5 was recorded in less than pristine surroundings with little whisperings littering the music. Do not attempt to trouble shoot your equipment while listening as it might be the artists' intention to transport the audience back to its original context.
Pianist Alice Sara Ott extraordinaire needs little or no introduction with many renown recording on Deutsche Grammaphon. Apart from the tragic news that Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has visited since 2018/2019, she remains a bastion of hope for MS suffers. She intends and has been living a normal life with new recordings and concert tours.
Alice Sara also enjoys piecing jigsaw puzzles together and solving Rubik's cube.
Peter Lye aka lkypeter
lkypeter@gmail.com Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye (c) Peter Lye 2021