CHOPIN. PIANO WORKS. Nelson Freire (piano). Telefunken AW6 42034 (£3.80).

Scherzi: No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20; No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31; No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39;

No. 4 in E major, Op. 54. Prelude In C sharp minor, Op. 45. Three Ecossaises, Op. 72.

The last top-price version of the Scherzi to come my way was from Roberto Szidon (DG 2536 378, 2/77). Since the coupling was no less than the four Impromptus, that recent DG disc must count as better value in quantity than this new issue including only the C sharp minor Prelude, Op. 45, and the three little Ecossaises, Op. 72, as extras. Nevertheless I would still strongly recommend Nelson Freire in preference to Szidon. To begin with he is a much more elegant virtuoso, able to get round handfuls of notes without any of the bumps that obtrude so markedly from Szidon in heated moments. I also think Freire shows a better sense of proportion in integrating each piece by means of tempo—all his changes relate to each other. He is also far less given to idiosyncratic rubato in point-making. The crystalline sound of the recording might also be thought more Chopinesque than DG's riper sonority.

But while I'd prefer to live with Freire than Szidon in the Scherzos, I'm not suggesting that old friends should be discarded to make room for him. Because Freire is so very fluent, I can see that some people may think him too much the streamlined virtuoso not always giving himself (or us) time to experience the music to the full. I certainly felt that he overdrives the climax of the central section in the second Scherzo. It needs more time to expand. I was also disappointed at his perfunctory treatment of the waterfalls of sound in between the phrases of chordal song in the third Scherzo. Vasary (DG 2726 029, 8/74) makes these little quaver asides so very much more magical, with each note glistening like a dew-drop even though he takes them no slower than Freire (Szidon is much too slow and deliberate in comparison). Vasary is not as high-powered as Freire in con fuoco drama but his recording is on DG's medium-priced Privilege series (in a twodisc set alongside the Waltzes) and still constitutes quite a challenge to all today's topprice contenders.

As for the extras, the C sharp minor Prelude has an easy flow that bears out its alla breve time signature. In its way Freire's emotional understatement is elegant and stylish, and he plays the totally unexpected, chromatically searching chordal cadenza with the right light touch. But for my own part I like this piece to have just a little more smouldering intensity. The three Ecossaises he despatches' with a cheeky brilliance just as if they were recital encores. j.O.C.