PRELUDES AND OTHER WORKS FOR P

COMPLETE NOCTURNES (2CD)

CHAMBER MUSIC

Among various dance forms cultivated by Frederic Chopin, the polonaises appear to be the most significant. They are the beginning of his creative journey and are not only proof of his geniues but they are also the unique genre that shows the pianistic and stylistic evolution of Chopin's work. Andrzej Pikul has many awards and accolades under his musical belt, having given many performances throughout his time as a pianist. He is a Laureate of the Polish Piano Festival, the International Competition Foundation Dziffra and the European Broadcasting Competition.

More than a decade separates Chopin’s four chamber works, a time he filled writing his innumerable solo piano masterpieces. For over a century the last work, the Cello Sonata in g, op. 65 (1845), was met with reserve by Chopin specialists. Today its lasting value is beyond dispute, with musicians eager to perform the work. Chopin’s long, fruitful, relationship with cellist Auguste Franchomme has historical and compositional relevance for all but the Trio, op. 8, and it is in this sense that this CD is a tribute to the musical friendship of Poland’s musical genius and the French cello master.

Chopin: Piano Works

Fryderyk Chopin transformed the scherzo into an autonomous, independent work, rather than a part of a symphony or sonata as it was previously part of during the Classical era. Expanding this genre gave it a newer, more romantic and dramatic expression. The composer's polonaises give us a glance into his Polish patriotism. The polonaise is the most important national dance of Poland, and Chopin composed 18 over his lifetime. Polish pianist Raphael Alexandre Lustchevsky performs these works brilliantly. He has won multiple international awards, and has performed with some of the world's leading orchestras, such as the Krakow Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Oman Philharmonic.

COMPLETE CHAMBER WORKS

Eugen Indjic was born in Belgrade in 1947. His mother was a Russian amateur pianist and his father a Serbian army general under King Peter II of Yugoslavia. Immigrating to the US with his mother at the age of four, he there became interested in music after hearing a recording of Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu and Polonaise in A flat major. Moved by a desire to master those pieces, he took lessons with Georgian pianist, Liubov Stephani. He made his first public performance at the age of nine, appearing with the Springfield Symphony, playing Mozart's D minor Piano Concerto. By the age of eleven he was already playing Liszt on NBC television, and at twelve he made his first recording for RCA Victor. Over the course of his long career he has won numerous awards at festivals and for his extensive discography. The present release features a recital of the composer who inspired Indjic to take up music in the first place- Chopin.

Chopin: Complete Works for Piano & Orchestra, Vol. 1

Chopin: Complete Works for Piano & Orchestra, Vol. 2

FANTASIA, BALLAD, NOCTURN, MAZ

In 2010 Lukas Geniusas won the Chopin Piano Competition playing this difficult cycle of Chopin's Etudes.

Chopin: Piano Concerto in E minor - Works for Piano Solo

Krzysztof Ksiazek, born in 1992 in Krakow, was a semi-finalist and recipient of two special prizes at the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He began his musical education at the age of nine in the piano class of Grazyna Hesko-Kolodzinska at the Stanislaw Wiechowicz State Primary School of Music in Krakow. From 2005 to 2016 he studied with Professor Stefan Wojtas, first as a student of the Fryderyk Chopin State Secondary School of Music in Krakow, subsequently at the Academy of Music in Krakow and finally at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, from which he graduated in 2016. He has won numerous international awards, frequently doing so performing works by Chopin, as he presents on this release. Here, he presents Chopin's playful Mazurkas alongside a Scherzo, Prelude, Waltz, Fantasy, Nocturne, and Polonaise, giving a broad overview of the brilliant composer's oeuvre.