Although this phenomenally popular body of music has attracted almost every important pianist of the last 150 years, its unlikely that Frédéric Chopin ever found,...

Although this phenomenally popular body of music has attracted almost every important pianist of the last 150 years, its unlikely that Frédéric Chopin ever found, or will ever find, a more ideal interpreter than Artur Rubinstein... The key to Rubinstein's greatness as a Chopin interpreter was the combination of utter naturalness as a performer and his enormously sophisticated musical mind. Nothing ever seems forced or premeditated: there are no sharp edges or sudden flashes of insight. In fact,the illusion the performances create is one of the music flowing, without benefit of a human intermediary, directly from Chopin's heart to the listener's... At almost every moment in these classic recordings, Rubinstein discovers some wonder of color or phrasing, brings out a beautiful inner voice it seems we've never heard before, and in general creates the impression of a man for whom playing this often fiendishly difficult music is no more difficult than breathing or making love. -- Jim Sveda, from The Record Shelf Guide to the Classical Repertoire [reviewing the 11-CD box set of Chopin recordings by Artur Rubinstein, RCA 260822]