Chopin: Prelude Op. 28 No. 16 in B flat minor

Alexandra Dariescu presents the first disc in a 'Trilogy of Preludes' containing the complete works of this genre by Chopin and Dutilleux.

Frederic Chopin composed his 24 preludes, op.28, one in each of the 12 major and 12 minor keys, between 1835 and 1839, commissioned by the pianist, publisher, impresario and piano manufacturer Camille Pleyel.

Henri Dutilleux’s 3 Preludes were not designed as a set but composed at intervals between 1973 and 1994. Each Prelude is dedicated to a great Pianist: Artur Rubinstein (D’ombre et de silence), Claude Helffer (Sur um meme accord) and Eugene Istomin (Le jeu des contraries).

Alexandra finds the form of the Prelude as relevant today as in Chopin's time and was drawn to Dutilleux's use of polyphony and harmony in his fascinating contribution to an established genre.

Alexandra Dariescu is one of the most talented pianists of her generation and was featured as BBC Music Magazine’s Rising Star in June 2011. She has won the Guildhall Wigmore Prize and the Romanian Ambassador‘s prize for her outstanding contribution to promoting Romania’s image in the UK, and is currently a YCAT artist.

Master pianist Maurizio Pollini turned 70 on January 5th, 2012 and DG are celebrating this milestone birthday with a new album of breath-taking Chopin. Pollini’s Chopin recordings are his best-sellers – the complete Nocturnes, released in 2005, have sold more than 100,000 CDs to date.

Chopin: Preludes is a birthday programme of newly recorded solo works: Preludes op.28, four Mazurkas op.30, two Nocturnes op.27, and the Scherzo no.2 op.31. Pollini often feature Chopin’s works in his solo recitals – The Guardian raved, “... he still plays Chopin with the ease that floored even Rubinstein more than 50 years ago ...”

Sheila Arnold’s performances show Chopin’s works in a new light; through the thrilling grasps of the perfomer, born in India and now a German pianist, who grapples intensively with historical instruments on all levels, producing a different sound and a complete new dimension on the pieces. She performs on an Érard Fortepiano (Paris 1839).

Wojciech Switala has won prizes in a number of international competitions: in Bardolino, Italy (First Prize), the Long/Thibaud in Paris (Second Grand Prix, audience prize, prize for the leading European) and the Montreal Piano Competition. In the Twelfth Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw (1990) he received the prize for the best performance of a polonaise.

The disc features new recordings of the 24 Preludes, Op. 28 made on a Pleyel piano from 1848 and Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise in E flat major, Op. 22 made on an Erard piano from 1849.

Recorded in Witold Lutoslawski Polish Radio Concert Studio, Warsaw, 11–13 November 2006 and 4 May 2007.

Ka Ling Colleen Lee, a rising star of Chopin interpretation, has won numerous awards at many leading piano competitions, including sixth prize at the Fifteenth International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Her sense of form and particular sensitivity to the timbres of the instrument have borne fruit in outstanding renderings of the B minor Sonata and the Polonaise-fantasy. Both these works appear on this disc, alongside Mazurkas from Op. 33 and six Preludes from Op. 28.

Debut release on ONYX from the legendary virtuoso and poet of the keyboard Nikolai Demidenko.

Recognised as one of the great Chopin players of our time, he recently performed these works during the Chopin Experience weekend on BBC Radio 3. This is his first recording of the Preludes.

Bryce Morrison in Gramophone magazine praised his last Chopin recital disc: "Demidenko's razor-sharp articulacy and immaculate dexterity are complemented by the finest musical grace and individuality" (Editor’s Choice, 2007)

Demidenko won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1978, recorded a highly acclaimed series of discs in the 80s and 90s (mainly on Hyperion) including a Gramophone award-winning disc of Medtner Concertos. As a young man he was widely acclaimed as a firebrand virtuoso but this was never the whole story and like a good wine his playing has matured gloriously. Now with new management.