Chopin: Étude Op. 25 No. 3 in F major

Chopin raised the pedagogic 'study' (etude) to entirely new levels with his Opp. 10 and 25. Virtuoso studies testing the technique of any pianist, there are also incredibly poetic works. Here they are unforgettably played by Nikita Magaloff and the Trois Nouvelles Etudes, three tiny gems that were posthumously published, complete this oeuvre.

The music of Chopin has accompanied Lang Lang throughout his career, and now, in his 30th-birthday year, Lang Lang records his first album entirely devoted to his music.

The Chopin Album – Lang Lang’s third album for Sony Classical – includes a selection of Chopin’s best loved and most recognisable piano muisc, including the ever-popular “Minute” Waltz, and the Études, which Lang Lang made his renowned Beijing Concert Hall recital with at the tender age of 14.

Included with the Deluxe Limited Edition CD is a bonus DVD in which Lang Lang explains how Chopin has been a close companion. The video contains archive footage of Lang Lang playing Chopin, with excerpts from his early concerts and competitions. It also includes complete performances of the Grande Valse brillante (recorded live in Vienna), the “Heroic” Polonaise (recorded at Berlin’s Berghain Club), and the “Black Keys” Étude in G-flat major (recorded at London’s Roundhouse during the 2011 iTunes Festival).

Hardy Rittner regularly creates sensations with his interpretations.

He has won several Echo Klassic prizes.

These performances are on an 1835 Conrad Graf Piano.

…dedicated to Chopin, with all my respect and love. I wish that I could have cooked these recipes for him. I wish that he could have given me his reactions, even if he were to pronounce the idea insane, or were to comment that he never would have chosen fish for Opus 25 Nos. 4 and 5…" Evelyne Brancart

The brilliant pianist Evelyne Brancart, for the past ten years head of the prestigious piano department at Indiana University, has enjoyed a lifelong love affair with Chopin's 24 Études. Her workshops and master classes on the Études are popular events. When she's not performing or teaching, she makes a specialty of creating scrumptious French cuisine. Now these two passions are joined in a unique project, Chez Chopin.

Chez Chopin offers a live performance of the 24 Études — full of spontaneity, subtlety, abandon, joy and insight. Listening to such a delightful performance of these pieces, one can't help recognizing what fun they can be to play. Each Étude is paired with a detailed recipe, accompanied by mouth-watering illustrations of the finished dish.

Brancart says: "Gathering together in the presence of brilliant music to share a magnificent meal feeds both brain and body… I am modestly but joyfully celebrating Chopin’s Études by associating them with color, taste and smell. I hope that you find this collection pleasurable. Chopin; a lot of flavor; food for the soul."

A musical feast — a new way to experience the Chopin Études.

The package includes a CD-ROM, with printable recipes and color photos.

Each recipe on the CD-ROM has a soundtrack — its corresponding Étude.

Sensational: a first recording by Géza Anda of Chopin’s 12 Etudes Op. 10. He once said of Op. 10 No. 1 that you have to have been a pianist for 25 years before you can play it. The Hungarian pianist Géza Anda (1921–76) was a celebrated interpreter of classical and romantic repertoire. Particularly noted for his performances and recordings of Mozart, he was also a tremendous interpreter of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Bartók. In his heyday he was regarded as an amazing artist, possessed of a beautiful, natural and flawless technique that gave his concerts a unique quality. But since his death in 1976 at the age of fifty-four, his high reputation has faded somewhat from view.