Chopin: Rondo in C major for two pianos, Op. 73

This disc features the Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22 and the Mazurkas, Op. 17 performed by Dina Yoffe, as well as works for four hands and two pianos, which the artist recorded with her son, Daniel Vayman. It is the second disc that this duo has recorded for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute; the first, with similar repertoire but on historical instruments, appeared in ‘The Real Chopin’.

The French pianist Samson François (1924–1970) recorded three complete Chopin sequences: the ballades, which brought him his first great success on record, the nocturnes and the polonaises. François learned his Chopin from Alfred Cortot, from whom he inherited a visionary style which suits the polonaises particularly well. (By an irony, Cortot himself played these works relatively rarely and recorded almost none of them.)

It was Chopin that François chose for his first recordings, which he made at the end of the 1940s on the Brunswick label. He recorded the polonaises twice: first in mono in 1958; then the present stereo version, made in the Salle Wagam in 1968 and 1969. There is no fundamental change of conception. If the mono recording benefits from the natural acoustic of the Salle de la Mutualité and at times offers something more rapt, it also affords less bel canto in the right hand too: the effect is more battling than dancing,so to speak.

Above all, these polonaises achieve a dramatic tension that sets them apart from other contemporary versions on disc: neither Rubinstein, supremely elegant as always, nor Stefan Askenaze, who cherishes the dance element, approach these works with such intensity.

The couplings are a handful of late works recorded at the end of sessions devoted to the nocturnes: the Trois Nouvelles Etudes, the Tarentelle, the Fantaisie in F minor and the F sharp Barcarolle share the same overcast outlook, and to that extent are a perfect foil to the often exuberant polonaises.

François played all the Chopin that was published in his day: even the C major Rondo for two pianos of 1828, reworked for four hands from an earlier solo piece, and recorded here with the pianist’s lifelong friend Pierre Barbizet.

All tracks are newly transferred and remastered to ART standard at Abbey Road Studios.

Award: Diapason d’Or

Dina Yoffe and her son Daniel Vaiman continue this successful series with Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor Op.21 in a special version for piano solo and three pieces for four hands and two pianos. (The instruments used are an 1848 Pleyel and and 1849 Erard).

Exploring the byways of Chopin’s work reveals gems such as the elegant Rondeau for two pianos, and the Variations for flute and piano on a theme by Rossini then at the height of his popularity. The substantial Piano Trio Op. 8, dedicated to the cello-playing Prince Antoni Radziwill of Poznañ, is a work in which Chopin allowed his Polish patriotism to be heard. Of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio The Strad asked “is there a better Trio ensemble in Western Europe?”

Tatiana Shebanova graduated from the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with a Gold Medal and is a Grand Prix winner of international music competitions in Prague, Geneva and Brussels. She has led an intensely musical life and, as well as being a soloist, has performed piano duets with her husband and son. She is performing on an Erard 1849 fortepiano.

Presented here is a selection of Chopin compositions arranged for two pianos or piano duet, including the Second Piano Concerto in a version for two pianos by Chopin himself and his pupil Carl Mikuli – a world première recording.

In all there are six such premières on this CD.

With thirty-five CDs and a busy concert schedule stretching back almost a quarter century, the British piano duo Goldstone and Clemmow is firmly established as a leading force. Described by Gramophone as ‘a dazzling husband and wife team’, by International Record Review as ‘a British institution in the best sense of the word’, and by The Herald, Glasgow, as ‘the UK’s pre-eminent twopiano team’, internationally known artists Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow formed their duo in 1984 and married in 1989.

Their extremely diverse activities in two-piano and piano-duet recitals and double concertos, taking in major festivals, have sent them all over the British Isles as well as to Europe, the Middle East and several times to the U.S.A., where they have received standing ovations and such press accolades as ‘revelations such as this are rare in the concert hall these days’ (Charleston Post and Courier). In their refreshingly presented concerts they mix famous masterpieces and fascinating rarities, which they frequently unearth themselves, into absorbing and hugely entertaining programmes; their numerous B.B.C. broadcasts have often included first hearings of unjustly neglected works, and their equally enterprising and acclaimed commercial recordings include many world premières.

Having presented the complete duets of Mozart for the bicentenary, they decided to accept the much greater challenge of performing the vast quantity of music written by Schubert specifically for four hands at one piano. This they have repeated several times in mammoth seven-concert cycles, probably a world first in their completeness (including works not found in the collected edition) and original recital format. The Musical Times wrote of this venture: ‘The Goldstone/Clemmow performances invited one superlative after another.’ The complete cycle (as a rare bonus including as encores Schumann’s eight Schubert-inspired Polonaises) was recorded on seven CDs, ‘haunted with the spirit of Schubert’ – Luister, The Netherlands.

Recorded in 1956

EMI Classics is pleased to release the latest instalment of highlights from the Martha Argerich Project at the Lugano Festival. This is the eight annual 3-CD set celebrating the musical fruits of a project in which young artists join seasoned performers, including Ms. Argerich, to explore wide-ranging chamber music and orchestral repertoire, both well known and rarely heard. The CDs, recorded in the summer of 2010, are being released in anticipation of the Festival’s 2011 season in June.

As a chamber music event, this series has become a laboratory that gives guest artists a chance to prove themselves not only in well-known masterpieces but also in rarely performed repertoire.

This is Martha Argerich’s 70th birthday year, and this year, the Live from Lugano series will be redesigned, starting with this edition. The new cover concept will be incorporated into future Lugano releases and the previous editions will be scheduled for redesign as necessary. The new design reflects the vibrancy of both Argerich and the festival.

The piano stands at the centre of the programming, not only with works originally written for it but also with transcriptions, which played an important historic role in the diffusion of music in remote areas and within family circles.

This brilliant 3-CD set features the breathtaking Martha Argerich and an exciting assembly of classical stars and up-and-coming talent including Gautier Capuçon , Renaud Capuçon, Gabriela Montero , Alissa Margulis , Geza Hosszu-Legocky , Lida Chen, , Natalia Margulis , Nicholas Angelich , Stephen Kovacevich , Lilya Zilberstein, Sergei Edelmann, Lily Maisky, Daniel Rivera , Alexander Mogilewsky, Giorgia Tomassi , Carlo Maria Griguoli , Dora Schwarzberg , Alessandro Stella Alissa Margulis, Lucia Hall, Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg, Mark Drobinsky, Louis Sauvêtre, Danilo Grassi and Jorge Bosso as well as Orchestra della Svizzera italiana

The repertoire features includes: Schumann’s Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in A minor, op. 105 and Adagio and Allegro for Cello and Piano, Op. 70, Chopin’s Rondo in C Major, Op. 73 for 2 Pianos, Brahms’ Variations on a Them by Schumann, Op. 23, Liszt’s Les Préludes, Symphonic Poem No. 3, the Korngold Piano Quintet in E Major, Op. 15, Bartók’s Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion Sz 110, Granados’ Piano Quintet in G minor Op. 49, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919) – Version for 3 Pianos by Carlo Maria Griguoli, Schnittke’s Piano Quintet Op. 108 and the Gershwin/Grainger Fantasy for Two Pianos on Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

Few artists have nurtured and promoted emerging young musicians with the level of personal commitment shown by Martha Argerich. In the process, she has created inspired and inspirational chamber music partnerships mixing established and up-and-coming artists. A legend in her own lifetime for her technical mastery and passionate artistry, Argerich possesses an infectious spirit that has fired her own performances and partnerships as well as those of her colleagues and protégés.

Reviewing the CD set highlighting the 2007 Festival, The Financial Times wrote, “The music flies off the page, like a high-calibre jam session in which the participants throw away worldly cares and listen to each other in the moment of performance. There's polish aplenty, as one might expect of well-established musicians, but more to the point, the CD radiates the freshness and electricity of a special occasion. What's so endearing about Argerich's festival concept is that she blends younger players with more experienced colleagues, so there's a cross-fertilisation of ideas. Even when she plays no part … the same invigorating spirit presides.” Gramophone said, “Martha Argerich can put you on alert with just one phrase. A sequence of phrases … becomes the aural embodiment of an archer drawing a bow to maximum stretch. …. The tension is palpable, [the] artists playing into the music to extract all it offers - and clawing listeners out of themselves.”

The ninth season of the Martha Argerich Project takes place in June 2011. Many of the artists on these CDs will take part again this year.