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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Louis Lortie plays Chopin Volume 2
This is Volume 2 in our series of solo piano works by Chopin, played by the French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie. Recording exclusively for Chandos, Lortie is recognised as one of the finest interpreters of Chopin today. He first recorded Chopin’s Études for Chandos more than twenty years ago; the disc was named as one of the ‘50 great performances by superlative pianists’ by BBC Music. Volume 1 of his current Chopin series also has received excellent reviews: the magazine Pianist wrote: ‘He is a pianist of our time when it comes to speed, energy and an unfussy approach to Chopin. His way of playing is like a sharply cut steel sculpture, super elegant and with not one single smudge.’ And in the words of International Piano: ‘These are full-blooded and eloquent performances, an auspicious start to what looks likely to become one of the finest of Chopin surveys.’ The ballade was associated with French poetry up until the mid-nineteenth century, when Chopin was among the first to transform the genre into a purely musical form for solo piano. His four ballades, recorded here, are among his most extraordinary and powerful works, full of dramatic contrasts, with moments of lyrical tenderness followed by passages of rambunctious energy. The Irish composer John Field invented the piano nocturne as a lyrical and dreamy short piece, a charming and languorous creation that was later transformed and extended by Chopin into something with a much wider emotional range, and a general sense of wistfulness. This ‘Chopin’ style of nocturne soon came to replace the Fieldian style as the preferred model of the genre. The simplicity and directness of expression found in the nocturnes have made them the most popular of all Chopin’s works. Composed towards the end of his life, the Barcarolle (originally a Venetian gondolier’s song) for solo piano is a melancholy, but sweepingly romantic work that conjures up strong images of Venetian boats, water, and oars. Also on this disc is the Berceuse (inspired by the traditional mood of the lullaby), based around a single four-bar theme which Chopin ornaments in increasingly elaborate ways as the piece develops. “an understated view of the composer, yet one that is fully cultivated and always convincing...not that Lortie is afraid of big expression, or lacking in virtuosity: his elegant playing always gets to the heart of the matter...a highly satisfying recital.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2012 **** “throughout his recital you will hear playing of the most patrician poise, fluidity and tonal finesse...In the Op. 9 E flat Nocturne, his rubato has all the delicacy and fragrance of a born Chopin pianist, a subtle give and take and musical breathing. His way with the Berceuse in particular is a marvel of iridescence, unruffled technique and musicianship.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2012 “an excellent recital, well-planned and skillfully varied...In some of the most harrowing, dramatic moments of the Ballades, Lortie sounds like he’s holding back, keeping his top shirt button done...Though the third ballade is a bit bloated the second ballade and the barcarolle are very well done.” MusicWeb International, May 2012 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1
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| |  | Chopin: Favourite Nocturnes
Chopin: | Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1 Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2 Nocturne No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 Nocturne No. 9 in B major, Op. 32 No. 1 Nocturne No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1 Nocturne No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55 No. 1 Nocturne No. 16 in E flat major, Op. 55 No. 2 Nocturne No. 18 in E major, Op. 62 No. 2 Nocturne No. 19 in E minor, Op. 72 No. 1 Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor, Op. post. Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor, Op. 66 'Fantaisie-Impromptu' Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60 |
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| |  | Nikolai Lugansky plays Chopin
Nikolai Lugansky signs to ONYX, and returns to the studio after a gap of several years. Lugansky has recorded 23 CDs. His solo recordings on Warner Classics - Chopin Etudes, Rachmaninov Preludes & Moments musicaux and Chopin Preludes – were each awarded a Diapason d'Or. His PentaTone Classics SACD of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, with the Russian National Orchestra under Kent Nagano, was cited as “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone. His Warner Prokofiev CD was one of the “CDs of the Year (2004)“ featured in The Telegraph. Lugansky’s Warner recordings of the complete piano concertos of Rachmaninov, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo, received Choc du Monde de la Musique, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the 2005 ECHO Klassik Award. His last recording (Chopin's and Rachmaninov's cello sonatas) with the cellist Alexander Kniazev won the 2007 Echo Klassik Award. His all-Chopin recital will be one of the most important CDs to be released in 2010 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. “Characteristically, Lugansky imbues this Chopin recital with concentrated thought. Not for him any gratuitous pyrotechnics...the consistently absorbing feature of his performances is the way they dig so deeply and lucidly into the substance beneath the surface.” The Telegraph, 23rd April 2010 **** “If you view Chopin primarily as a revolutionary firebrand rather than an introverted dreamer, then this recital is definitely for you...[Lugansky's] performance of the sonata is terrific, with monumental drama in the outer movements, a nerve-ridden scherzo, and a largo that remains notably insistent and driven” The Guardian, 13th May 2010 **** “This is not for those who thrill to outrageous or self-conscious novelty but more for listeners left to marvel at the miracle that is Chopin. There is a moving transparency and reserve about Lugansky's way with the Third Sonata...His refined brilliance, too, makes something special of the Fantaisie-impromptu” Gramophone Magazine, September 2010 “Lugansky's focus in this Chopin prgramme is unrelentingly inward, the surface as polished and immaculate as a Steinway's lid. His tone quality is always singing, pure and richly cushioned” BBC Music Magazine, September 2010 ** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Richard Farrell - The Complete Recordings, Volume 2
Brahms: | Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 Klavierstücke (4), Op. 119 Rhapsody in G minor, Op. 79 No. 2 | Chopin: | Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20 Mazurka No. 10 in B flat major, Op. 17 No. 1 Mazurka No. 41 in C sharp minor, Op. 63 No. 3 Étude Op. 10 No. 3 in E major 'Tristesse' Previously unreleased Étude Op. 10 No. 4 in C sharp minor Previously unreleased Étude Op. 10 No. 5 in G flat major 'Black Key' Étude Op. 10 No. 10 in A flat major Previously unreleased Étude Op. 25 No. 11 in A minor 'Winter Wind' Previously unreleased Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1 Waltz No. 14 in E minor, Op. post., KKIVa:15, B 56 Polonaise No. 6 in A flat major, Op. 53 'Héroïque' Previously unreleased | Debussy: | Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque) | Granados: | Goyescas: Quejas ó La Maja y el Ruiseñor | Liszt: | Concert Paraphrase on Rigoletto, S.434 after Verdi's opera Widmung S566 after Schumann (Liebeslied) Hulanka (Drinking Song, after Chopin) | Mendelssohn: | Song without Words, Op. 38 No. 6 in A flat major 'Duetto' | Rachmaninov: | Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op. 42 First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 23 No. 4 in D major First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 23 No. 6 in E flat major First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 32 No. 5 in G major First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor First ever stereo release | Schumann: | Arabeske in C major, Op. 18 |
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| |  | Chopin: Scherzos, Nocturnes & Mazurkas
Chopin: | Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20 Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54 Polonaise No. 2 in E flat minor, Op. 26 No. 2 Mazurka No. 42 in G major, Op. 67 No. 1 Mazurka No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 7 No. 1 Mazurka No. 45 in A minor, Op. 67 No. 4 Mazurka No. 43 in G minor, Op. 67 No. 2 Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1 Nocturne No. 6 in G minor, Op. 15 No. 3 Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2 Nocturne No. 18 in E major, Op. 62 No. 2 |
The Latvian pianist Dina Yoffe is a professor at the Anton Rubinstein International Academy in Germany and has worked with many celebrated orchestras and conductors. She has made numerous recordings for radio, television and phonographic companies including Chopin’s 24 Preludes, Fantasy in F minor and 19 Waltzes. She performs here on a 1848 Pleyel fortepiano. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Great Pianists - Cortot78 rpm recordings - volume 5
Chopin: | Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 Recorded 7th June, 1929, London Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38 Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47 Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 Recorded 11th March, 1929, London Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 Recorded 19th March, 1929, London Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1 Recorded 17th October, 1951, London Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2 Recorded 20th April, 1948, London Nocturne No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 Recorded 17th October, 1951, London Nocturne No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55 No. 1 Recorded 9th October, 1947, London Nocturne No. 16 in E flat major, Op. 55 No. 2 Recorded 15th October, 1947, London |
“In glorious tone quality, drama, visionary intensity and sheer poetry, few pianists have ever surpassed Cortot. This CD is a treat, if you don't mind wrong notes, and includes two totally different interpretations of the Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2007 ***** “This fifth and final release of Cortot's 78rpm Chopin recordings is surely the jewel in the crown. Here, the 1929 rather than the more familiar 1933 set of the Ballades blazes with a passion, brilliance and poetic audacity that set the pulses racing and the mind reeling. Here is a great artist who seized the opportunity to achieve ever greater heights of eloquence and rhetorical verve. Superbly restored by Mark Obert-Thorn, every performance is charged with a heady and consuming poetry that confirms Daniel Barenboim's claim that 'Cortot discovered the opium in Chopin'. Take the First Ballade's opening, where Cortot is every inch the bardic poet, free, rhapsodic and inimitable; or hear him in the Presto con fuoco storms of the Second Ballade, where he plays as if pursued by the furies of hell.
Again, even when inaccuracies fly in all directions in the heat of the chase, no other pianist has approached the Third Ballade's central C sharp minor turbulence with such daring or recreative force. Cortot was never one to hold back in the interests of decorum and in the Fourth Ballade he stretches the parameters of Chopin's poetry to the very edge, his playing close to being consumed in its own ecstasy.
His selection of Nocturnes (sadly his projected Chopin survey was never completed) pulse with the same alluring quality, suggesting the reverse of Rubinstein's more patrician elegance. True, for today's more antiseptic and 'tasteful' practitioners such artistic conviction and originality will seem extravagant or even camp. Yet there is surely no living pianist who could or would attempt to emulate such heart-stopping poetry.
Maria Callas herself would have been among the first to pay tribute to Cortot's cantabile, an unequalled 'singing' at the piano.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “The great French pianist famous for…. His magical touch and lovely singing tone and a flexibility of phrasing and movement as natural as breathing.” Sunday Times | | | (also available to download from $9.00) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Chopin - Preludes & Nocturnes
Chopin: | Preludes (24), Op. 28 Prelude Op. 45 in C sharp minor (No. 25) Nocturne No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1 Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 Nocturne No. 3 in B major, Op. 9 No. 3 Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1 Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2 Nocturne No. 6 in G minor, Op. 15 No. 3 Nocturne No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 Nocturne No. 9 in B major, Op. 32 No. 1 Nocturne No. 10 in A flat major, Op. 32 No. 2 Nocturne No. 11 in G minor, Op. 37 No. 1 Nocturne No. 12 in G major, Op. 37 No. 2 Nocturne No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1 Nocturne No. 14 in F sharp minor, Op. 48 No. 2 Nocturne No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55 No. 1 Nocturne No. 16 in E flat major, Op. 55 No. 2 Nocturne No. 17 in B major, Op. 62 No. 1 Nocturne No. 18 in E major, Op. 62 No. 2 Nocturne No. 19 in E minor, Op. 72 No. 1 Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor, Op. post. Nocturne No. 21 in C minor, BI 108 Prelude Op. posth. in A flat major (No. 26) |
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| |  | Chopin - Nocturnes
Chopin: | Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1 Nocturne No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 Nocturne No. 9 in B major, Op. 32 No. 1 Nocturne No. 11 in G minor, Op. 37 No. 1 Nocturne No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1 Nocturne No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55 No. 1 Nocturne No. 18 in E major, Op. 62 No. 2 Nocturne No. 19 in E minor, Op. 72 No. 1 Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2 Nocturne No. 6 in G minor, Op. 15 No. 3 Nocturne No. 12 in G major, Op. 37 No. 2 Nocturne No. 14 in F sharp minor, Op. 48 No. 2 |
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| |  | Chopin: Piano Music
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