Piano Sonatas Nos, 1, 2, 3, Scherzos, Ballades, etc : Harasiewicz (2CD)

Chopin:
Scherzi Nos. 1-4
Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 4
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 'Marche funebre'
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
Ballades Nos. 1-4
Fantasia in F minor, Op. 49
Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60

Adam Harasiewicz, piano

The Polish pianist Adam Harasiewicz was born in 1932, and had a meteoric rise to fame when he captured first prize at the Fifth Chopin International Competition in Warsaw. Although his name may be unfamiliar to many today, other names at that competition in 1955 included Fou Ts’ong and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Harasiewicz has been mentioned by aficionados in the same breath as Argerich, Rubinstein, Zimmerman and Cortot as one of the leading interpreters of Chopin. He was equally at home with the music of Szymanowski and Brahms, but it was always Chopin that he focused on and his small discography chiefly consists of this composer’s music.

Harasiewicz signed to a major record label in the late 1950s and ’60s and among the notable recordings he made during this period were the complete sonatas, scherzos and ballades included on these two CDs. He remained active on the concert scene into the 1970s, though he didn’t record again and sadly his reputation faded. These recordings confirm his talent as a Chopin interpreter, with a brilliant, crisp and powerful tone.