RCA Victor Cover Art

RCA Victor LSC-2360 (Stereo)
RCA Victor LM-2360 (Mono)

Music / MP3
Chopin: Prelude No 18, Op 28 / 01_chopin_prelude_18_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 2, Op 28 / 02_chopin_prelude_2_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 14, Op 28 / 03_chopin_prelude_14_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 4, Op 28 / 04_chopin_prelude_4_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 5, Op 28 / 05_chopin_prelude_5_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 8, Op 28 / 06_chopin_prelude_8_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 19, Op 28 / 07_chopin_prelude_19_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 20, Op 28 / 08_chopin_prelude_20_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 23, Op 28 / 09_chopin_prelude_23_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Prelude No 24, Op 28 / 10_chopin_prelude_24_opus_28.mp3
Chopin: Barcarolle, Opus 60 / 11_chopin_barcarolle_opus_60.mp3
Chopin: Etude, Op 10, No 10 / 12_chopin_etude_opus_10_no_10.mp3
Chopin: Etude in C, Op 10, No 7 / 13_chopin_etude_opus_10_no_7.mp3
Chopin: Mazurka, Op 59, No 1 / 14_chopin_mazurka_opus_59_no_1.mp3
Chopin: Mazurka, Op 59, No. 2 / 15_chopin_mazurka_opus_59_no_2.mp3
Chopin: Mazurka, Op 56, No 1 / 16_chopin_mazurka_opus_56_no_1.mp3
Chopin: Ballade No. 3, Op 47 / 17_chopin_ballade_no_3_opus_47.mp3

Recording Date(s):
10, 11, 12 March, 1959

Recording Location:
RCA Studios, New York City, NY USA

Release Date:
October, 1959

Known Details:
All 24 of the Opus 28 Preludes were recorded in a single take, however, André rejected for release Preludes 1, 3, 6, 7, 9 to 13, 15 to 17, and 21, 22. The remaining Preludes, 2, 4, 5, 8, 14, 18, 19, 20, 23 and 24, appear on this recording. Little is known of this Chopin recording session, but it is known that soon after the recordings session in New York City (10, 11, 12 March 1959), André was back in Chicago for concerts on 19, 20 and 24 March 1959. There, he played the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in G-minor, Opus 16. The reviewer for the Chicago Daily Tribune, Claudia Cassidy, reports:

André Tchaikowsky, the young Polish pianist whose debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra last season lit a fuse of highly inflammable virtuosity, returned Thursday night to play a stunning performance of Prokofiev's Second Concerto, under Fritz Reiner's clairvoyant direction. Mr. Tchaikowsky, who has grown taller and stronger, came charging out on stage as if he could hardly wait to get started. Once at the piano, he was instantly fully at ease, as born pianists are, knowing they have come home.

This 24-year-old, whose age means nothing but plenty of time, the gods willing, is altogether extraordinary. He has technique to burn, a big, commanding style. He has imagination, the inner ear to listen, the outgiving nature to share. His tone is full, rich, and sensitive, his was with a phrase intuitive, because such things are not learned in schools. In this entire concerto, which is full of booby traps for the dullard, he made no sound that was not the right sound, the sound the ear instinctively expected. It was, as played and saluted, a superb performance.

André was to play once more in Chicago this 1958-1959 season, after which he returned to Europe and never gave another piano recital in the USA, turning his back on America. André was just 23 years old.