Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 'Marche funèbre': 3rd movement (Funeral March)

The life and career of Frédéric Chopin (“a man of noble ideas”, according to Debussy) have been much written about, and have given rise to numerous legends and exaggerated stories. The hackneyed clichés of the fragile and ailing artist, of the worldly seducer, and the unfortunate circumstances of his break-up with George Sand are all too well known to need re-telling here. Heinrich Heine said of Chopin that he was “the kindest, the most reserved and the most modest of men of genius”. The composer himself was notably reticent, but summed up his own complex personality with the words: “On the outside I am cheerful, but inside I am in turmoil.”

In addition to its staggering virtuosity, Chopin’s music is pervaded by an indefinable sadness that combines suffering, sensuousness and melancholy – characteristics that may owe something to his exile from his native Poland, which he left in 1830, never to return. The Nocturnes and some of the Preludes – several of which acquired sub-titles that the composer detested – give off a mysterious aura of poetry and comtemplation. “What emotions he was able to embody in music! And what passionate and melancholy reveries he liked to indulge in!” Berlioz recalled. Whatever sentiment is expressed in the music of Chopin, sensuousness remains one of the dominant elements of his aesthetic palette and of a musical style that was completely new and inimitable.

IRENE SCHARRER, though perhaps the least remembered of the major Matthay pupils, was the earliest to record, beginning in 1909 at the age of 21.That in itself is a credit to her early fame, which she established through an extrovert, but always musical, virtuosity.

She excelled in such works as the Chopin Etudes, nine of which she recorded, and in other brilliant pieces such as those here by Scarlatti and Liszt, but the poise and refinement of her Chopin nocture or the slow movement of the Mozart sonata reveal another side to her playing that is sadly underrepresented on disc. Her final recording, of the Litolff Scherzo, was also her most famous; in its day it was a best seller and was responsible for putting that work on the musical map. This set reissues for the first time all Scharrer’s electrical recordings and also an example of every work she recorded in the acoustic era (pre 1925) that was not later remade as an electrical recording. For completeness, a discography of all her other acoustic recordings is also included.

The third volume in this Welte-Philharmonic-Organ series is dedicated primarily to entertainment on board a steamer. It also pays tribute to the sister ship of the Britannic, the Titanic. The CD includes In Memoriam Titanic written in commemoration, as 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the maiden voyage. Also included is Chopin’s Funeral March, 20th century “cinematic accompaniment” and dance music.

This fourth volume of late Cortot completes APR’s survey of the post-war recordings which the pianist made for EMI in the UK. We are now entering the era of tape recording, and apart from the Deutsche Ländler of 1951, all the other titles, which date from 1953-54, were recorded in this new medium. This gave the artist new freedom, as he was not restriced to the length of a 78rpm side for each take, and Cortot tackled much of his ‘big’ repertoire again. Sadly, by this time his failing health meant that many works remained unissued as they did not meet the standards of his earlier magnificent versions, however some old warehorses did stand the test of time, as can be heard in the Carnaval featured here. His playing may have become technically more fallible but the performances fully support the claim of the late Thomas Manshardt, one of Cortot's last pupils, that this period of Cortot's career "is his greatest in thought and warmth and mastery’.

The booklet contains a discography of all Cortot’s HMV sessions from 1953 to 1955.