Maurizio Pollinis recordings of the Polonaises have attained cult status. Pollini offered playing of outstanding mastery as well as a subtle poetry. His supreme achievement is in suggesting the immediacy of an inspired improvisation, while at the same time preserving the shapely unity of a preconceived whole. To improve the audio quality, the work was mastered and cut from the original 4-track tapes at 45 rpm and redistributed on 2 LPs.

Maurizio Pollini makes it virtually impossible to imagine Chopin’s Polonaises played with greater clarity, force and resolution. Not for him the odd approximation or slip of the finger: everything is ruthlessly, indeed frighteningly, concentrated and of the essence. Gramophone