Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 'Marche funèbre'

Celebrating the 2010 bicentenary of Chopin’s birth, pianists Grigory Sokolov and Janusz Olejniczak, both renowned Chopin greats, are brought together in a beautifully presented boxed set (4 CDs for the price of 1) featuring some of Chopin’s best-loved piano works. These beautiful, deeply moving performances (previously available as four separate albums from Opus 111) are among the finest available, making this the ideal boxed set for music lovers and pianists. Grigory Sokolov’s interpretations are poetic and highly individual, and his rhythmic freedom and elasticity of phrase are perhaps unequalled among pianists today. Janusz Olejniczak is an award-winning pianist and played Chopin in Andrzej Zulawski's film The Blue Note, and also appears as the hands of Wladyslaw Szpilman in Adrien Brody's role in the film The Pianist.

These performances by some of the world’s best known pianists are all live recordings from the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

This release is a tribute to the pianism of Percy Grainger who died 50 years ago in February 1961. Grainger was the most reluctant of virtuosos, always wishing that he he would be remembered primarily as a composer, yet his fame as an executant and the large number of recordings he made, attest to his greatness as a pianist.. Very few of Grainger’s recordings are currently available, and indeed many have never been transfered to CD before, so this set is a discographic landmark which finally reveals, in state-of-the-art transfers by Ward Marston, the true glory of Grainger the performer. His particular passions of Bach and Grieg are well represented (he become a close friend and favoured interpreter of the latter in that composer’s last years) but there are also ground-breaking performances of some of the great warhorses of the 19th century. In particular, Grainger’s recording of the Chopin B minor Sonata, the first ever of that work, has long been regarded as one of the classics of the Gramophone. Finally, there are 26 tracks of Grainger playing Grainger - surely these definitive performances alone attest to the timeless importance of this ouvre.

MURRAY PERAHIA, winner of the 2010 BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Category Award, is one of the most highly praised pianists in the world today. His poetic phrasing, command of sonorities and supreme virtuosity are perfect for the technical finesse and romantic musicality required by Chopin’s compositions. These five albums give ample opportunity for the listener to experience Perahia’s considered and superb interpretations of Chopin’s much loved masterpieces.