By contrast, Cherkassky stands the F minor Fantasy's drama on its head, reining in the climaxes by pulling the volume down and avoiding the sustain pedal when it's clearly called for, as well as hustling certain slower passages along (the hollow, wobbly engineering doesn't help). I prefer Cherkassky's similarly detailed yet weightier, more spacious 1973 BBC performance once available on Decca, and his more conventional early-1950s EMI traversal reissued in Philips' Great Pianists series.

With little pause to breathe, the Fantasy dovetails into Kempe's vividly detailed and stunningly engineered Pines of Rome. Both conductor and orchestra play Respighi's showy orchestration to the hilt, from the pugnacious trumpet brays in Pini di Villa Borghese to the carefully contoured dynamic buildup in the final movement (no holding back on the tam-tam!). Even without the Chopin Fantasy you get 53 minutes' worth of inspired music making--never mind that Respighi's Pines of Rome and Chopin's F minor concerto make for a pretty bizarre coupling.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com