Chopin – Ballades Impromtus (Bella Davidovich)[2007]

1. Ballade for piano No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, CT. 2 
2. Ballade for piano No. 2 in F major, Op. 38, CT. 3 
3. Ballade for piano No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47, CT. 4     play
4. Ballade for piano No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, CT. 5 
5. Impromptu for piano in A flat major, Op. 29, CT. 43 
6. Impromptu for piano in F sharp major, Op. 36, CT. 44 
7. Impromptu for piano in G flat major, Op. 51, CT. 45 
8. Fantasy-Impromptu for piano in C sharp minor, Op. 66, CT. 46

Bella Davidovich - piano

Bella Davidovich gives excellent accounts of [the Impromptus], in line with her already familiar interpretations of the Ballades. The simplicity and directness of the A flat major Impromptu is particularly striking, and the whole is beautifully impulsive. Perhaps in the F sharp major's march-like section the left hand is a bit oppressive, but under the treble's demisemiquavers the left hand's melody is well focused... Among the Ballades, No. 4 receives a splendidly lucid reading... An interesting view is also taken of No. 3, tension is well maintained, and in creased, on the way to the big climax...

Davidovich shared first prize with Halina Czerny-Stefanska in the 1948 Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Both of these pianists went on to successful careers and served as jurors for subsequent Chopin competitions. For some reason, Davidovich's Chopin has never received the acclaim in this country that it so richly deserves. One professional pianist who hails from the same region of the world told me that she is the Queen of the piano back in her country but that here she was always unjustly compared to the great Russian virtuosos like Rachmaninov, Richter and Gilels. She doesn't have their technical prowess, but she has enough of her own, and she brings an incomparable capacity to communicate with exquisite tenderness and ardour.

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