CHOPIN Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 and 3 Polonaises Alfred Cortot

(amongst other works) at a session in ‘C’ Studio of the
Small Queen’s Hall on 11th December 1928. Although
a Pleyel piano was used for both 1928 sessions there is a
noticeable difference in sound quality because most of
the sonata was issued from the poorer quality Kingsway
Hall recording. Only the Scherzo comes from the ‘C’
Studio session. Cortot infuses his performance with an
urgency and sweeping energy throughout; he recorded
the work again for HMV at their Abbey Road Studios
on 8th July 1933.
The Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, was
first set down by Cortot in Paris on 20th and 21st May
1930 but this was not issued. He recorded it again for
HMV on 12th May 1931 in London and this was issued
on four ten-inch discs from a total of twenty two takes
recorded that day. Between 4th and 9th July 1933,
however, Cortot recorded a huge amount of Chopin’s
music for HMV including the Fantasie in F minor, Op.
49, the Etudes, Op. 10, Berceuse, Op. 57, Tarantelle,
Op. 43, Polonaise in A flat, Op. 53, Barcarolle, Op. 60,
the complete Preludes, Op. 28, and the Four
Impromptus. At this time he also recorded both the B
minor and B flat minor piano sonatas and the Four
Ballades. All these recordings were made in No. 3
Studio at HMV’s Abbey Road location where the best
possible sound of the day could be obtained. It is
probably for this reason that HMV issued both Chopin
Sonatas from the 1933 sessions even though they
already had recordings in their catalogue by Cortot of
these works from 1928 and 1931. The 1933 version of
the B minor Sonata (completed in only fourteen takes
on 6th July) has incredible energy, particularly in the
last movement.
Of Liszt’s six transcriptions of Chopin’s Polish
songs, the Chants Polonais, Op. 74, only two became
popular - My Joys and The Maiden’s Wish. These were
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in the repertoire of practically every pianist of the first
half of the twentieth century and have been recorded by
such great pianists as Moritz Rosenthal, Ignace
Paderewski, Leopold Godowsky and Josef Hofmann.
Cortot recorded four of the six songs on 10th March
1939 and two of these, the rarely heard Spring and The
Ring were issued. The other two songs recorded at that
session were My Joys and The Maiden’s Wish; these
were not issued, and My Joys appears here from a test
pressing. All were recorded on a Steinway piano and
Cortot’s wonderful tone quality can be savoured,
particularly in My Joys. At the same recording session
Cortot recorded Weber’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in A flat
which was issued, and Ravel’s complete Gaspard de la
Nuit which was not issued owing to damaged matrices
and he unfortunately never recorded the work again.
Cortot only recorded Chopin’s Andante Spianato
and Grande Polonaise, Op. 22, complete when he was
in Japan in 1952. He recorded just the Polonaise,
however, for Victor on 5th February 1923 in Camden,
New Jersey. This is the only acoustic recording on this
compact disc, but being made right at the end of the
acoustic era the sound is particularly good for its age.
Critics of Cortot’s technique can be silenced by this
stunning performance in which Cortot understands
completely Chopin’s use of the decorated melodic line.
At nearly five minutes, the side length of the 78 rpm
disc is pushed to its limits, and there is a sense of Cortot
rushing to the finishing post even though he has already
had to make cuts in the work.
For such a popular piece, it is surprising that Cortot
only made his first recording of the Polonaise in A flat,
Op. 53, at the marathon 1933 sessions. The only other
issued recording he made of this work comes from
Japan in 1952 by which time Cortot was past his prime.
The 1933 recording has all the majestic swagger and
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