Three other great recordings
Alfred Cortot
(piano) Cortot’s 1928 recording of the Second Sonata (originally for HMV) is one of the earliest studio recordings of the work. He takes dizzying tempos at various points: both the scherzo and the finale are rapid and threaten to run away – yet Cortot never comes undone. Cortot went on to record the sonata again in 1953, providing a discography of duplicates. But high fidelity isn’t everything, and it is the 1928 performance – unedited, and far from note-perfect – that is his most distinctive. (Naxos 8.111065)
Cédric Tiberghien
(piano)
It is difficult to chose between Hyperion label mates Cédric Tiberghien and Marcandré Hamelin’s recordings. The two pianists are highly accomplished Chopinists and both recordings are immaculately presented in terms of sound engineering. Tiberghien nudges ahead with his beautifully variegated approach that culminates in a march that is full of contrasts; a nimble finale follows. There is some creative rubato in the first movement that takes getting used to but, once absorbed, Tiberghien’s evocative reading has much to offer. (Hyperion CDA68194)
Arthur Rubinstein
(piano)
Arthur Rubinstein’s reputation as a Chopin player is well documented and his back-catalogue of studio recordings has been made widely available. The 1946 mono-aural recording of the Second Sonata was re-released as part of a ten-cd set in 2008 via RCA Red Seal, and is on most streaming sites. While the quality of sound may appear dubious to modern ears (and the piano tuning is, at times, perilous), the immediacy and musicianship of this performance is thrilling. The march itself is rather heavy-handed and laboured, but the outer movements make up for it. (RCA 88697687122)
And one to avoid…
In this 1981 recording, released in 2002, Ivo Pogorelich’s experimental phrasing takes the performance to breaking point; the first movement loses all sense of Chopin liquidity. The Croatian pianist also favours unusual emphasises on accents, rendering the phrasing incomplete in multiple places. Pogorelich’s individualist stance is often highly successful – Martha Argerich, no less, once declared his Chopin interpretations to be the work of a genius. But then even geniuses have off days.