Grigory Sokolov’s live 1990 recording of the Chopin Op. 28 Preludes last appeared on the Opus 111 label’s 10-volume “Journey Around Chopin” anthology. It’s reissued again here, with much-improved graphics this time around. I’ve always loved this recording for Sokolov’s untrammeled, personalized pianism and a kind of freedom that seems fueled by creative inquiry rather than unfounded, willful eccentricity. The pianist revels in the music’s unpredictable mood swings while illuminating its harmonic and contrapuntal inspirations like an astronomer who can’t wait to share his latest planetary discoveries. Sokolov milks the A minor Prelude’s still-jarring dissonances for all they’re worth and sprints like mad through the hell-raising B-flat minor and D minor. The etude-like G major, F-sharp minor, and E-flat Preludes rarely have sounded so effortless and playful. Imagine a more intellectualized version of Martha Argerich’s red-hot 1975 DG recording, and you’ll get the gist of Sokolov’s Chopin Preludes. A truly absorbing release.
