Dinu Lipatti plays Chopin Sonata No. 3 in B Minor Op. 58

Dinu Lipatti s March 1 and 4, 1947 recording of Chopin s Sonata No. 3 in B Minor Op. 58, recorded at EMI s Abbey Road Studio No. 3 on Steinway 299. 1. Allegro maestoso 0:00 2. Scherzo 8:49 3. Largo 11:22 4. Finale. Presto ma non tanto 20:15 This is the only largescale solo composition that Lipatti recorded at EMI s Abbey Road Studios in London, the rest being shorter works that fit on one or two sides of a single 78rpm disc. In the postwar period, due to material shortages even established artists (Cortot, Moiseiwitsch, Schnabel) were recording an average of one solo multidisc work and a larger number of shorter works per year. This is most unfortunate as Lipatti had in his repertoire at the time Beethoven s Waldstein Sonata, Schumann s Etudes symphoniques, and Ravel s Le tombeau de Couperin (he would play these three in a single recital together with four Bach Preludes Fugues). This performance of Chopin s Third Sonata captures Lipatti s pianism at its most vibrant and dynamic. While he was already