Chopin: Mazurka No. 27 in E minor, Op. 41 No. 2

Chopin spent the winter of 1838/39 with George Sand and her children in Majorca, where they stayed in an abandoned Carthusian monastery at Valldemosa. George Sand wrote a famous and popular story about the holiday. On this CD Sand's words, taken from her memoirs, are spoken by Hannelore Elsner.

A journey into Chopin's world . . . On 21 February 1842, the Polish composer gave one of his very rare concerts: he did not enjoy appearing in public, for his music was above all a chamber art. Alain Planès has striven to recreate the programme of this concert as closely as possible and recorded it on a Pleyel piano of 1836 that the composer might have played.The questions he throws up in the process are fascinating: how did Chopin play? Apart from his famous rubato, what was the role of ornamentation, and indeed improvisation?

Katia Bronska is Polish by birth, Parisian by adoption. Acclaimed by the critics, she has captivated audiences around the world, meeting with success and triumph in great cities such as Paris, New York and London.

Her music shows a fascinating personality. She has caught the attention of great musicians such as Yehudi Menuhin, who wrote: "I have just heard Katia Bronska and I am thrilled! She plays Chopin's works with a precise and intrinsic rubato, with a tempo that leads you from one enchanting moment to the next." She was an exceptionally gifted child, who received the gold medal in Poland's National Piano Competition for Promising Young Talent at the age 12. She studied with the great piano teachers Krystyna Jastrzebska and Zbigniew Sliwinski, before going to work with some of the most distinguished professors in St Petersburg. She was awarded the Grand Prix of the Fondation de France (Prix Charles Oulmont) in 1987. Katia Bronska likes to perform in intimate communion with places and people. In her concerts she has her captivated listeners in raptures of emotion.

Janusz Olejniczak is one of the leading Polish pianists and began learning the piano at the age of only six. He has performed in almost every country in Europe as well as Japan, America, Australia and Cuba and has made many recordings. Here he performs on an 1838 Erard fortepiano.

This is a very personal album from the pianist Vardo Rumessen.

It is dedicated to the memory of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski who, along with a number of colleagues and family members, lost his life in the air disaster in Smolensk on April 10th 2010

There are treasures tangible and glittering, and there are gems concealed, only revealing themselves to the serene and seeking. The world-famous Czech pianist Ivan Moravec is among the latter – and the same can be said of his recordings.

He doesn’t need to set out to shock and purposefully set himself apart. The seeming matter-of-factness with which Moravec performs Chopin led a Gramophone (II/1992) reviewer to speculate that this is perhaps how the composer’s piano improvisation might have sounded. Each tone in its dynamism, each fine accent is well considered and has its place amid the whole. Moravec masterfully balances free agogics with a sense for the overall structure.

Chopin’s genius stands out most expressively in tiny compositions – and it is in these that Ivan Moravec’s mastery is the most distinct; it is not by chance that he has the reputation of being one of the greatest living interpreters of Chopin’s works. Bearing witness to this are enthusiastic reviews of the first release of the presented recording (1991, Dorian). Now Supraphon – to the delight of all Chopin lovers and Ivan Moravec fans – is bringing this remarkable album back to life.

“Not only one of the most talented virtuosi of her generation, she can do what at most only a dozen pianists in the world are capable of.” Joachim Kaiser (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 1967)

A sensational solo Chopin recital for Chopin Year 2010 – previously unreleased radio recordings from 1959 / 1967

Includes works new to the Argerich discography (Ballade no.1, 4 Mazurkas, C# minor Etude)

Taken from radio recordings made in Berlin and Cologne in 1959 and (mainly) 1967, here is over an hour of newly-discovered Martha Argerich solo recordings of Chopin, all released for the first time and including works otherwise not recorded by her (Ballade no. 1, Mazurkas opp. 24/2, 33 /2,41/1&2, C# minor Etude).

From her epic First Ballade to the overpowering live Third Sonata — with exquisite performances of Mazurkas and Nocturnes in between — the recital demonstrates what a force of nature she already was in her first decade on the international music scene — “a veritable powerhouse of the emotions”, as Jürgen Otten writes in his liner notes.

Frédéric Chopin was a devoted champion of the Mazurka. Anna Gourari has selected a programme of works illustrating his life, as if in a musical diary. She lends these triple-time pieces an irresistibly attractive pulse, painting an exquisitely defined and colourful image. In short, Anna Gouari’s performance is stunning.

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.