Recommended Chopin Recordings
This year, Classic FM be marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Chopin. No-one knows exactly when the composer was born, although 1st March is the most likely date.
Record companies are lining up to pay homage to Chopin – and here’s our selection of the many releases for 2010...
Chopin: The Essentials
The Harmonia Mundi label has drawn together some of its finest pianists to create a bargain-priced collection called Chopin: The Essentials – which pretty much does what it says on the tin! It’s a lovely collection of solo piano works.
Hommage A Chopin
This CD from British pianist Jonathan Plowright, features music inspired by the great composer. Entitled Hommage à Chopin, the CD includes three works by the same name, by Grieg, Villa-Lobos and the lesser known Franz Bendel. Also featured are a beautiful piece called La Réminiscence de Chopin by the Czech composer Eduard Napravnik, and Federico Mompou’s witty and inventive Variations sur une thème de Chopin.
Chopin: The Complete Edition
Covering Chopin’s entire oeuvre, from works for solo piano and piano duet; to piano and orchestra; cello and piano; piano trio; and voice and piano. This humongous 16-CD set features legendary pianists past and present, including Dinu Lipatti, Arthur Rubinstein, Claudio Arrau, Georges Cziffra, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Steven Kovacevich, Garrick Ohlsson, Mikhail Pletnev, Maurizio Pollini, Leif Ove Ansdnes and Ingrid Fliter.
Chopin - Rafal Blechacz
The Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz has signed an exclusive deal with the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label, and for this new CD he’s chosen to perform the music of his countryman, Chopin. These are rich performances of the composer’s two piano concertos, with Blechacz joined by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Chopin began composing both concertos in Warsaw in 1829, during a very happy and productive period of his life; these performances were recorded in July 2009, and are available for the first time on this new CD.
Chopin Complete Waltzes - Ingrid Fliter
Following universal praise for her EMI Classics debut album of Chopin piano works, Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter has recorded the composer’s complete waltzes. Fliter won the Frederic Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2000 and says of his music, "it is like looking into a kaleidoscope of human life. He concentrates all his ideas, all his creative energy, in a very short space of time. He creates a whole world in each little piece".
More CDs due for release in March 2010:
Chopin - Nocturnes by Yundi
Chopin: The Piano Works by Vladimir Ashkenazy
Chopin: The Nocturnes by Nelson Freire
Evgeny Kissin Plays Chopin by Evgeny Kissin
Buy these and more Chopin CDs from Amazon...
