Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin was a genius who created mainly piano music. All of his creative output is characterized by beautiful lyricism. This new release features Chopin’s piano works transcribed for cello and piano. This project is funded by The Cultural Education Foundation, founded by Roza Paderewska in 2010. The aim of the foundation is cultural animation carried out by varied educational and artistic activities. They also strive to promote Polish culture. This release of transcriptions, performed by outstanding artists Tomasz Strahl and Janusz Olejniczak is the next project which fits into the programme of the Foundation. Tomasz Strahl graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, cello class of Professor Kazimierz Michalik and completed a postgraduate course at Hochschule fur Musik and darstellende Kunst in Vienna under Professor Tobias Kuhne. Janusz Olejniczak is one of the most outstanding contemporary Chopin interpreters. Born in Wroclaw, he was the youngest prize-winner of the 8th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition and also won a prize in the Alfredo Casella International Competition in Naples.

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.

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Georgijs Osokins gained international attention through his participation at age 19 in the Chopin Competition 2015, where his performances received either superlatives or led to controversy. His playing is of a rare originality, based on a deep musical intuition, a strong sense of rhetoric and immaculate technique. "He has a very rare gift of a true Chopinist... This young musician is exceptionally talented." - Sergei Babayan

Chopin's piano sonatas span a wide creative period, from his time as a student to five years before his death, when he was still in good health and his relationship with George Sand had not yet begun to deteriorate. Two of the three Chopin piano sonatas are cornerstones of the romantic piano repertoire; the first sonata is heard far less frequently in performance or recording. Chopin has been most revered as a miniaturist; much has been written discussing Chopin's larger-scale works: some have criticized his seeming lack of formal skill, while others have come to praise his compositional anomalies as innovation and ingenuity. Regardless, Chopin's characteristically transcendent, fluid melodies, unique pianistic beauty and distinctive poetic voice permeate these three sonatas.

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German pianist Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy is one of the leading pianists of his generation. His concert activities and recordings mark him as an extremely intelligent musician with immense technical powers. His recordings of Brahms, Schumann and Rachmaninoff have won him rave reviews all over the world. His Chopin interpretations on this new recording breathe an air of improvisation, vision and imagination. Listening to his interpretation of the Preludes evokes a synesthetic experience: The sounds, views and smells of Mallorca (where they were composed) merge into one feeling of beauty, bliss and melancholy.

This is an audio-only (i.e., with no video content) Blu-ray disc playable only on Blu-ray players.

Using the new Polish National Chopin Edition, acclaimed pianist Eldar Nebolsin and Poland’s national orchestra conducted by the renowned Polish conductor Antoni Wit, here present fresh interpretations of Chopin’s great works for piano and orchestra. The Second Piano Concerto was written before the first and completed in 1830, the year in which the composer set out for Vienna and then Paris. Chopin’s Variations on Là ci darem la mano, bear witness to his admiration for Mozart, instilled by his earliest teacher, the Bohemian Wojciech ?ywny. The Grande Polonaise brillante in E flat, Op. 22, was written in Vienna, and later augmented with the introductory Andante spianato.

Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Chopin’s youthful Piano Concerto No. 1 is dominated by the brilliant piano part that the teenage performer-composer wrote to showcase his extraordinary virtuosity. Its ravishing Romanza (‘reviving in one’s soul beautiful memories’, as the composer described it) is framed by an opening movement rich in dramatic lyricism and a vivacious Rondo. The Fantasia on Polish Airs, Op. 13 and Krakowiak are similarly vehicles for Romantic reverie and bravura which pay tribute to the music of Chopin’s homeland. Eldar Nebolsin’s recording of Liszt’s piano concertos was ranked ‘among the finest’ by Gramophone.

Chopin: Etudes

Also available on Blu-ray

Recorded live at the Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw, 26-27 February 2010.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 97 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

R E V I E W:



CHOPIN Piano Concertos: No. 1 in e 1; No. 2 in f. 2 Mazurka in a, op. 17/4. 1 Etude in c, op. 10/12. 2 Waltz in e, op. posth. 2 • 1 Nikolai Demidenko, 2 Evgeny Kissin (pn); Antoni Wit, cond; Warsaw PO • ACCENTUS 20104 (DVD: 96:54) Live: Warsaw 2/27/2010

I would hate to have been a music critic for a newspaper sitting in the audience at this concert. Newspaper reviewers are allowed only one chance to hear the music and then get their story straight. I’ve watched this video four times, and just am beginning to appreciate what went on at the concert. In sum, it is a tale of two pianists, Nikolai Demidenko and Evgeny Kissin. The former receives a notable reception from the audience, while the latter elicits a roaring standing ovation and rhythmic applause. The two even are a contrast in their appearance: Demidenko with his grey beard and bald spot, the leonine Kissin every inch the romantic idol. Yet, on repeated listening, I find myself drawn at least as much to Demidenko’s performance as to Kissin’s. This video is a superb example of how completely differently one can approach Chopin, with equally satisfying results.

The First Concerto opens with refined playing in the orchestral tutti. Antoni Wit and his Warsaw forces only recently recorded both concertos with Eldar Nebolsin. Demidenko begins introspectively, with a lovely sonority. His romantic hero, as portrayed in the music, is a poet rather than an adventurer. The third subject is full of yearning and pathos. Elegance and passion characterize the subsequent filigree work. The return of the first theme sounds ruminative. When the second subject comes back, it is wistful and tentative. Throughout this movement, the Warsaw first chairs play beautifully, particularly the flute, bassoon, and horn.

Demidenko opens the second movement with a gorgeous, singing bel canto line. It is a love song with plenty of heart. Unlike in the first movement, the piano part now has a slightly naive quality. The solo bassoon plays wonderfully. Here and in the finale, Demidenko handles transitions magically. He performs the last movement very much in the style galant . His playing now is rhythmically subtle; he doesn’t attempt to be a powerhouse. The B section sounds like a mazurka. Demidenko’s left hand produces deftly judged harmonies. His soft playing is superbly virtuosic. As an encore, Demidenko plays a mazurka raptly and ravishingly, almost as a commentary on all that has gone before it.

Kissin first came to prominence in a concert of both Chopin concertos at age 12, conducted by Dmitri Kitaenko. At present, he plays the Second Concerto in the grand manner. His fingers are fascinating to watch, reminding me of tentacles. Kissin treats the first movement rhapsodically, rather freely in tempo. His soft passages are especially luminous. The program annotator for the DVD suggests that Kissin’s tactile connection to the keyboard is almost erotic. I prefer to say that Kissin’s performance possesses an animal quality. In the second movement, Kissin produces lush sonorities with almost heartbreaking phrasing. His playing in the string tremolo section seems tragic, evoking the pain of the lover. Following this outburst, the return of the initial theme sounds subdued. Kissin’s finale is a romp, with plenty of fire. Differences in dynamics are finely judged. The audience erupts on the orchestra’s final chord. For his first encore, Kissin gives us a stunning version of the last of the op. 10 etudes, with an almost supernatural left hand. It perhaps exemplifies the two pianists here that this encore is so virtuosic, while Demidenko’s is reflective. Kissin’s next encore is a somewhat Mendelssohnian treatment of a waltz, like fairy music. Kissin shows an endearingly light touch here.

The sound engineering on the DVD is very good, clear and full if a little monochromatic. Surround sound was unavailable to me. Occasionally the picture is out of sync with the music for a second or two. The director of the video does a satisfying job; nothing essential is overlooked in the camerawork. If you are looking for a CD of both concertos, I would recommend those by Annerose Schmidt, Janne Mertanen, and Janina Fialkowska. For an opportunity to experience two marvelous players in concert, this DVD probably will have great staying power. It is a true privilege to witness Demidenko and Kissin’s artistry up close.

FANFARE: Dave Saemann

The two-compositions featured here, the Trio, op. 8 and the Sonata, op. 65, rank among the very few chamber music pieces Chopin left behind. Whilst predominantly piano-focused, those few occasions when Chopin did explore other idioms always prominently featured the cello, so naturally this disc is a feast of musical riches for young cellist Johannes Moser. The needed ability to draw out every emotion and nuance from these works, from the noble to the pathetic, from soaring lyricism to sober solemnity, are known and admired characteristics of Mr. Moser and his esteemed ensemble partners.

CHOPIN Piano Concertos: Nos. 1; 1 2 2 • Shura Cherkassky (pn); 1 Christopher Adey, cond; 2 Richard Hickox, cond; 1 BBC Scottish SO. 2 BBC SO • ICA CLASSICS 5085 (75:22) Live: Glasgow 1 12/3/1981; 2 London 8/30/1983


Shura Cherkassky, according to the liner notes, was sometimes a difficult man to accompany, as he would often change his mind on phrasing or tempos between the final rehearsal and the concert; thus, annotator Robert Orledge says, “some conductors were reluctant to appear with him,” citing as an example the sudden rush with which he plays the final section of the Second Concerto. I can see where this would be a problem. I recall a live performance I attended by a famous American pianist where, suddenly, the keyboardist rushed forward and left the orchestra behind, and I learned later that he did not rehearse the work that way. The difference, if I may say so, is that Cherkassky usually had good taste while the American pianist I heard usually played with poor style regardless of his tempo choices.


Well, as Cherkassky once said to me, “Some people like my playing and some don’t, but at least no one can say that I’m boring.” True enough. Yet I was beginning to doubt that this would be that fine a disc as the First Concerto started up. Conductor Adey plays it very slowly, with lots of romantic gush and goo, and moreover the first minute or so suffers from what is probably a crumply original tape. I was not expecting much. But then Cherkassky entered, and his bracing interpretation of the opening phrases acted like a wake-up call for the orchestra. (Having heard Cherkassky three times in person, twice with an orchestra and once in recital, and also being familiar with many of his recordings, I just don’t see that he would have wanted this concerto played so slowly to begin with. It just wasn’t in his nature, thus I believe that he bristled at Adey’s tempos in both the rehearsal and performance.) From this point on—thankfully—it is the pianist who leads the orchestra, forcing Adey to pick up his tempo or be left behind. One is immediately caught up in the excitement, which despite a sensitively shaped second movement continues on through to the end.


With the Second Concerto, we enter an entirely different world. Richard Hickox was one of the great, underrated conductors of his generation, a man who viewed music as dramatic expression and molded his performances that way. From the very first note, Hickox is on edge, and I mean that almost literally…he makes Chopin’s orchestration sound almost like Beethoven or Schumann, full of drama and bringing out all sorts of inner voices with tremendous clarity. The switch from Adey to Hickox is almost as dramatic as if one suddenly shifted from John Barbirolli to Igor Markevitch, but Cherkassky is entirely in his element. There’s a particularly delicious passage in the second movement when the piano’s descending chromatics clash on one note with the orchestra’s chord—exactly as written, but a detail that normally escapes one’s attention in most performances of the concerto. And Cherkassky’s last-movement cadenza is incendiary, as advertised. It’s a heck of a performance that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Cherkassky’s changes to the text of the score are certainly evident but, like Glenn Gould, they generally enliven and enhance the music. Of course, that would probably keep this disc from being your first choice for recordings of the two concertos, but as a second recording it is definitely recommended.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

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.

Combining elegance and virtuosity, pianist Russell Sherman returns to Avie with a traversal of Chopin’s Mazurkas, a popular 19th-century genre among Polish composers, but one that Chopin made his own. He wrote mazurkas throughout his lifetime, from his early days in his native Warsaw until 1849, the year of his death in Paris. He brought numerous innovations to the dance form, evolving its humble folk origins to more contemporary art music. Russell, who has performed the world over on the most illustrious stages and with all of the major orchestras, brings his signature grace, imagination, and poetry to Chopin’s beloved oeuvre. -----

REVIEW:

Awe-inspiring: in some of the most difficult works in the piano repertoire, he exhibits the kind of impeccable perfection that is the hallmark of players like Pollini and Michelangeli.

- All Music Guide

Louis Lortie’s Chopin series is achieving landmark status, as confirmed by the increasingly enthusiastic reviews of progressive volumes. This fifth one sumptuously highlights the Polish influences in Chopin’s music, offering gems from among the mazurkas and polonaises. Relatively brief in duration and simple in structure, the mazurkas reveal other aspect of Chopin’s music: quirky melodies, strangely chromatic harmonies, oddly accented rhythms, irregular phrase lengths, and wildly contrasting keyboard textures. They represent a fascinating part of Chopin’s output, for audiences and pianists alike. The vigour of the polonaises featured here, including the first two to be published, confirms Chopin as a radical, yet idiomatic transformer of the genre. The Allegro de concert, which Chopin was said to have kept for his projected return to ‘a free Warsaw’, is another link to his beloved country.

Sophia Agranovich adores the piano works of Chopin, and it shows in these deeply-felt performances. Internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and educator, Sophia Agranovich is “a bold, daring pianist in the tradition of the Golden Age Romantics…A tigress of the keyboard” – Fanfare. Her performances are captivating audiences by the “orison of uncommon beauty” – Audiophile, “the extraordinary dramatic urgency”, “the ideal balance she achieves between the intellectual and the emotional” – Fanfare, “interpretation that dares to be different”, “magnificent shading and superior musicianship” – American Record Guide. Sophia Agranovich is an esteemed pedagogue, lecturer, master class clinician, adjudicator, and is a recipient of numerous teaching awards. Her students are consistently winning top prizes in regional, national and international competitions and are performing at prestigious venues. Ms. Agranovich is active member of various professional music organizations, listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World, a voting member of NARAS, Artistic Director of ‘Classicals at the Circle’ music series at the Watchung Arts Center, Program Chair and Board member of Music Educators Association of New Jersey.

Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturnes possess those grand melodic qualities that form the basis of the charm and seduction of his inspiration. These 1993 recordings find the pianist playing a Broadwood piano (c. 1845), a make Chopin himself played upon in England in 1848. The Flemish pianist Luc Devos (b. 1960) is regularly invited to perform in concert as a soloist with Belgian and foreign orchestras and has collaborated with such renowned artists as Arthur Grumiaux, Sigiswald Kuijken and Augustin Dumay.

This new album by Charles Richard-Hamelin presents two important works from Frederic Chopin’s repertoire, 24 Preludes, Op. 28 and Andante spianato & Grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22, and confirms that he is one of the world's elite pianists. Writing about Richard-Hamelin, BBC Music Magazine characterized his playing as “fluent, multifaceted and tonally seductive… a technician of exceptional elegance and sophistication.” Qualities that are made evident on this brilliant new album. Charles Richard-Hamelin is well known on the international music scene as a “highly sensitive” pianist (Gramophone), driven by “a great depth of feeling without the slightest pretense” (Le Devoir). He is recognized as “fluent, multifaceted and tonally seductive… a technician of exceptional elegance and sophistication” (BBC Music Magazine).

Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) was born in the village of Zelazowa Wola in Mazovia, the son of a French father and a Polish mother. This mixed heritage would weave like a double helix through Chopin's career as a composer-pianist. Following studies at Warsaw Conservatory (1826-29) and 've given concerts in Warsaw and Vienna (1829-30), Chopin settled in Paris in 1831. His most famous romantic liaison was with Aurore Dude Vant (aka novelist George Sand), the years 1838- 1847 coinciding with his most productive period. Their relationship ended shortly after, Chopin visited Britain in 1848, where his already precarious health Deteriorated. Almost 3,000 people attended his funeral the following year at the Madelaine in Paris though he Remained a Polish patriot Throughout his short life, he Became a French citizen. Although educated in the tradition of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Clementi, and a great admirer of Bach, his music includes works based on both French and Polish models, as well as some innovations. Among the former May be Counted his piano sonatas; Bach's counterpoint found it's way (albeit metamorphosed) into his own multilayered music; his many Viennese Waltzes are more Parisian than; Polonaises and Mazurkas raised his thesis Polish dance forms to Unprecedented Heights or artistic achievement. Similarly, he transformed, the Nocturne, Initially popularized by the Irish-born Russian-based John Field, into a form much more Closely associated with himself. His Ballades, Preludes and Etudes were path-breaking and immensely influential. Two piano concertos, some songs and chamber works aside, he composed Exclusively for the solo piano and preferred to perform at salons privately rather than in public concerts.

German pianist Burkard Schliessmann is a performer with a passion and vision, to seek out and interpret the forms, colors and textures, indeed the soul and expression: the poetic impact, of works we believe have already been fully explored. His previous recordings have received worldwide acclaim "Schliessmann is too good a pianist for anyone to pass on this" - American Record Guide; "without equal" - Fanfare. This triple SACD set with state of the art sound and luxury packaging chronicles the works of Chopin in order, showing the composer's development and is thus informative for scholars as well as being a superb recital. Chopin is the composer above all who has inspired Schliessmann and his interpretative style.

Classical Music

With this release, distinguished Korean pianist Klara Min brings her special touch a seventeen-piece survey of her favorite Mazurkas - a unique “composer genre” from Frédéric Chopin. Widely regarded as the most intimate, heartfelt, emotional, and personal music that the “poet of the piano” composed, the mazurkas fairly shine under Min’s fingers. Her tone has been called “ravishing” and “out of this world” (American Record Guide), and her rare interpretive acumen, technical wizardry, and intuitive musicianship make Chopin’s music a perfect fit.

LIMITED EDITION. SINGLE PRESSING ONLY.

'Fire-eating virtuoso' is how Stereo Review described the finales of the Rachmaninoff concertos recorded by pianist Rafael Orozco (1946-1996) with Edo de Waart. Collected here are the complete Philips recordings of one of Spain's piano aristocracy, winner of the 1966 Leeds Piano Competition. There is passion and poetry in equal measure, and an instinctive feeling for the ebb and flow of a phrase in these recordings of works by Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff. Barnstorming virtuosity from a distinguished member of Spain's piano aristocracy: the complete Philips albums of Rafael Orozco include several recordings new to CD.

At age 20, Rafael Orozco came to the world's attention at the 1966 Leeds Piano Competition. The fire and poetry of his Chopin, Liszt, and Albéniz won him first prize, and then a contract with HMV/EMI which led to several acclaimed albums such as the Chopin Préludes. However, Orozco entered his full artistic maturity around the time of his recordings for Philips, made between 1972 and 1975.

A solo album of Rachmaninoff is one of the newly remastered treasures which have been forgotten over time, but it confirms the depth of Orozco's touch at the keyboard and his instinctive feeling for the ebb and flow of a phrase. Orozco projects the volatile mood-swings of Schumann's Kreisleriana while holding close control over details of line and texture.

In his booklet appreciation of Orozco, Jed Distler compares the album of Chopin's Scherzos to meeting an old friend after a long absence: 'I had forgotten the nuanced scintillation in the first Scherzo's demonic outer sections, not to mention the uncommon precision and centeredness of the triplets in No. 2's famous main theme.' He points out the coruscating impact but also strong architectural feeling of the Liszt Sonata recording which stands out among the solo repertoire on the set.

Orozco also found a meeting of minds with the young Dutch conductor Edo de Waart. Aided by transparent Philips engineering, they explored all the refinements of dialogue in concertos by Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. His playing of them strikes a rare balance between refinement, passion and a sense of abandon. However, his Philips catalogue has rarely been reissued on CD, making this first-ever collection of his recordings for the label a valuable reminder of Orozco's place in the pantheon of Spanish pianists, alongside the likes of Alicia de Larrocha and Esteban Sánchez.

The pianist Anna Vinnitskaya has built up an impressive discography since her victory at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2007: Bach, Brahms, Ravel, and of course the Russian composers with whom she has been familiar since her childhood in Novorossiysk, then her studies with Evgeni Koroliov. She has now made her first Chopin recording, coupling the four Ballades, a cross between the miniature and the sonata, with the four Impromptus he composed at different periods of his life, between 1835 and 1842. Anna Vinnitskaya was born in the Russian city of Novorossijsk. She was a student of Sergei Ossipienko in Rostov and Evgenyi Koroliov at the Hamburg conservatoire. Since 2009 she has been a professor there herself - that is, when she is not touring the stages of the wide musical world.