Chopin
Ballade No.3 in A flat, Op.47
Mazurkas, Op.41 in E minor; in B; in A flat; in C sharp minor
Mazurkas, Op.59 in A minor; in A flat; in F sharp minor
Nocturnes, Op.48 in C minor; in F sharp minor
Nocturnes, Op.55 in F minor; in E flat
Polonaise in A flat, Op.53
Polonaise-fantaisie, Op.61
Ian Jones (piano)
Recorded on 25-27 August 2004 in Nybrokajen 11 (the former Academy of Music), Stockholm
Reviewed by: Colin Anderson
Reviewed: February 2007
CD No: LONDON INDEPENDENT RECORDS LIR013
Duration: 75 minutes
This is fluent and sensitive Chopin-playing. The biography for Ian Jones included in the booklet describes him as a “Steinway Artist” (he plays a Model ‘D’ on this recording), but is not forthcoming about his nationality (one assumes he is English). He appears to be the right side of 40 (!) and is a much-travelled prize-winner, the latter including an accolade in the 1993 Leeds International Pianoforte Competition.
Chopin wrote all the music included here during summers spent at George Sand’s country residence in Nohant (France). A fine sense of line, volatility and rapt concentration informs Ian Jones’s performances. In the Mazurkas he brings out the vitality of the dance; the Ballade is cohesive while still being malleable; and the Nocturnes are raptly brought off, the climaxes headily reached. The A flat Polonaise is superbly brought off, with poise and nobility, and unforced, the disruptive middle section a model of clarity but with no lack of heft. The Polonaise-fantaisie is also very attractively integrated; this is a piece that can meander, but Jones’s success is that the dance and fantasy elements are convincingly welded into a definable structure. Throughout, Jones’s shapely phrasing and well-modulated contrasts afford a fresh and rewarding take on music that is all too easy to become over-familiar with.
With the reservation that the recorded sound could be slightly less resonant and the treble register smoother, there is much to admire here. Certainly Jones outguns a number of better-known rivals in this repertoire; this is a release that will be a pleasure to return to.