Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60

Chopin’s two concertos date from early in his career, and the Second was actually completed before the work published as No.1. They are both supreme examples of the early-Romantic piano concerto, and the influence of Hummel and Field can be heard in many places throughout both works. That is not to say that these works are in any way derivative.

Chopin developed the styles and techniques of these keyboard masters (he performed their concertos frequently) and created his own distinct keyboard style. These concertos have often been criticised for their ‘wooden’ orchestration, but Chopin kept the involvement of the orchestra to a minimum so they could be performed with a small string ensemble – something both Hummel and Moscheles had in mind with their concertos.

The 4 Ballades and the Fantaisie show Chopin at the height of his powers, and writing in the smaller forms that suited his genius perfectly, though the Fantaisie is by no means a small-scale work.

In the hands of Jorge Bolet (1914–1990), Chopin’s music comes alive in a way few pianists have managed before or since. Bolet was Cuban by birth, studied piano from the age of five, and made his debut aged nine. His teachers included Leopold Godowsky and Josef Hofmann.

Recordings made in 1986 and 1989 by legendary producer Ray Minshull.

New booklet notes by French piano connoisseur Jean-Charles Hoffélé.

‘This leisure results in most beautiful slow movements, particularly the Larghetto of the F minor Concerto, inspired by its 19-year-old composer’s first great love. The melody not only sings but speaks (with some telling emphasis of inner subtleties of craftsmanship), and the filigree decoration has an exquisite fingertip delicacy … In sum, performances of indisputable love and care.’ Gramophone, December 1990

This release is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Chopin and includes his Piano Sonata No.2 and a selection of Etudes as well as other works. The recital was recorded live at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory in 1964. Rubinstein said “To understand Chopin one must know that the composer was a pupil of Bach and Mozart, a pupil of Accuracy and harmony”.

Producer and Audio restoration engineer: Ward Marston

To mark the bi-centenary of the birth of Frederic Chopin, the celebrated Russian pianist Alexei Volodin performs a selection of some of the composer’s greatest works, including the Four Impromptus, and the powerful Sonata No. 3 in B Minor.

Alexei Volodin was born in St. Petersburg in 1977, and began taking piano lessons there at the age of nine. A year later he moved to Moscow, and in 1994 he enrolled at the Moscow Conservatoire. During 2001 and 2002 he studied at the Theo Lieven International Piano Foundation in Como. Alexei Volodin has won several prizes at different international competitions, including First Prize at the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich in 2003.

Frederic Chopin’s Four Impromptus were composed between 1834 and 1843. The first one to be written, the so-called “Fantasie-Impromptu” in C Sharp Minor, is the most well-known of the four, but was in fact the last to be published, and done so against the composer’s wishes. The turbulent and impressive Sonata in B Minor is a four movement work. It was written in 1844 and is the last of the three that he composed.

Mirare’s impressive roster of pianists commemorate the Chopin 2009 anniversary at a special price.

The essential collection of favourite solo works for Chopin Year 2010!

Over 140 minutes of pure listening pleasure

2CDs for the price of 1

Featuring Argerich, Ashkenazy, Barenboim, Blechacz, Freire, Grimaud, Gulda, Horowitz, Lang Lang, Michelangeli, Ott, Pires, Pollini and many more

“Chopin was the greatest of us all, for he discovered everything through the piano alone”. So wrote Debussy about the Polish master, the 200th anniversary of whose birth is celebrated in 2010. This collection – featuring the world’s greatest pianists – bears out this remark, ranging from the dreamy to the heroic, from the passionate to the playful, with all Chopin’s favourite titles included.

Gulda's hottest Chopin phase was the mid-1950s, when he regularly played the complete Preludes and complete Ballades in concert. Captured here are recordings from a variety of sources, all released for the first time, with the exception of the Piano Concerto recording, made for Decca (with whom he also recorded the Preludes and Ballades)

Performances are sometimes fiercely virtuosic, sometimes dreamily spun-out. The Ballades in particular are carried off with great panache.

First ever releases of 24 Preludes, 4 Ballades and single pieces.

Special compiled improvisation, in which Gulda (among other things) muses over his (broken) relationship with Chopin.

All newly mastered / remastered by Paul Gulda, who writes the liner notes.

Janina Fialkowska is a regular guest soloist with the world’s most prestigious orchestras and has worked with conductors such as Haitink, Metha, Solti and Slatkin. She was born in Montreal amd her career was launched by Arthur Rubinstein after her prize winning performances at the first piano competition held in his name in 1974.

Tatiana Shebanova is one of the most eminent pianists performing today. She is the winner of international competitions in Prague (1969), Geneva (1976) and Brussels (1990), among others. Polish audiences remember her performances during the Tenth International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1980, when she received Second Prize and the special prizes for the best performances of a polonaise and a concerto.

The disc features new recordings of the Waltzes, Ecossaises, Op. 72, Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60, Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57.

Recordings made on an Erard piano from 1849.

Recorded in Witold Lutoslawski Polish Radio Concert Studio, Warsaw, 19-20 May 2007.