Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op.11
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op.21

To read of Benjamin Grosvenor's rapid ascent to the top of his profession is to read a litany of superlatives: the youngest ever winner of the keyboard section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition (2004); the youngest soloist ever to appear at the First Night of the BBC Proms (2011); the youngest pianist ever to be signed to the Decca label -- and the first British pianist in almost 60 years to do so... The list goes on, as does the number of industry awards his recordings have won. {Decca}

The two Piano Concertos by Frederic Chopin recorded here have been an integral part of British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor's repertoire ever since his early teens. And this level of familiarity definitely manifests itself in his playing. There's a constant fluid limpidity and clarity to his phrasing, and an overall forward momentum shaped by delicate contours. Nothing ever sounds forced or affected, but rather seemingly moves along naturally. The slow passages are contemplative whilst the fast passages quite simply dance off the keyboard. And when a certain degree of darkness creeps into the music, his playing takes on an appropriately different mien, and the same can be said when the music takes on a highly Polonaise style.

Conductor Elim Chan was the first female conductor to win the LSO Conducting Competition in 2014, and has since been principal conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and a guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra since the 2018/19 season. In the booklet notes Benjamin Grosvenor points out that "he felt this was the right time to record these concertos due in large part to the rapport he shares with this conductor." And based on what I hear, that mutual affinity results in a seamless delivery in both tempi and dynamics. You probably already own multiple recordings of these concertos as I do, but even if you do this one certainly deserves your consideration.