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In good time for the Chopin anniversary next year Alpha present the four Ballades for piano, composed between 1835 and 1842. Unlike the waltzes or mazurkas, they were almost revolutionary, of epic breath characteristic of the emergence of the Romantic Age. The piano is an exact contemporary of the pieces, miraculously conserved in its original state.

The pianistic universe of Chopin is radical, in its harmony, its articulation, its melismata, its phrasing.

This radicality is heard both as expressive violence - Chopin is an extremist - and as a perpetual interrogation of the foundations of the piano. Its virtuosity is never demonstrative: one always encounters harmonic problems closely linked to the placing of the hand, in an equilibrium constantly compromised and immediately restored. Hugues Dufourt.

François Chaplin was noticed by the critics and the audience with a complete recording of Debussy’s piano pieces released by Arion between 2000 & 2005 « With what is needed of distance, distinction and of calm ecstasy for the essentially aristocratic art of Claude de France... a complete recording which will mark the recent debussy discography. » Gilles Macassar Télérama 2005 After a Chopin recording Ballades, Barcarolle et Berceuse released in 2007, here is the complete set of Nocturnes, inovative and lyrical pieces which made Chopin famous. To record theses passionate, tender, delicate pieces where inner life develops dreams and infinite impulses, François Chaplin chose a Grand piano de concert Yamaha which enabled him to shape his own sounds. « I wanted to express myself freely in these confessions which are the nocturnes » A new order for Chopin’s Nocturne : « Between the two poles constituted by the op.48 set, with its dramatic Nocturne no.1 in C minor, and the two Nocturnes op.62, where the accommodation of the bel canto spirit to the keyboard reaches a fabulous peak, I have taken account of the moods and keys of the pieces in devising an arrangement which has no other aim than to emphasise the diversity and modernity of the nocturnes. With their lyricism and drama, their intimate confessions and capricious outbursts, they contain Chopin’s entire soul. » François Chaplin

Recorded in the mythical Salle de Musique at La-Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, this is the first solo recital of Evgeni Bozhanov (°1984), the Bulgarian pianist who has been shaking the piano world for over a year. At the major international competitions in which he has taken part since 2009, always reaching the finals, nobody remained indifferent – neither jury members nor public – to this exceptionally gifted pianist, seated in a low position and drawing unbelievable sounds from his piano.

Whether in Warsaw (Chopin 2010), Fort Worth (Van Cliburn 2009) or Brussels (Queen Elisabeth 2010), he produced a resolutely personal sound, notably in Chopin. Thanks to his Second Prize at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, awarded on 1st June 2010, Evgeni Bozhanov was given the opportunity to leave a trace of his so original art with Fuga Libera, in coproduction with the bank BNP Paribas Fortis, who chose him as their laureate for 2010-11 for a private concerts series.

Close your eyes, listen and discover!