Among the catalog’s numerous Chopin E minor concerto recordings, I’ve rarely encountered a version so bland and lacking in vitality as this one. Essentially, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne functions as a doormat upon which Christian Zacharias’ clean, undercharacterized, small-scaled fingerwork trods unobtrusively and unimpressively, its sound passing in one ear and out the other. We listen in vain for the all-important woodwind solos and counterlines to break out of the orchestra’s blended, undifferentiated textures while searching desperately for any real sense of urgency and rhythmic élan in the piano part.
Happily, the F minor concerto is a completely different story. Zacharias’ urgent, forward-moving pianism enlivens the first movement, while his flexible phrasing and expertly gauged dramatic outbursts make a more than memorable experience out of the central Larghetto. In addition to the pianist’s lyrical spontaneity in the finale, the orchestra finally comes alive with sharper, more decisive chording and more forwardly balanced winds. It’s strange how Zacharias is so boring throughout the First concerto yet appears quite inspired in the Second. Need he have recorded both?
