Composer: Frédéric François Chopin
Performer: Louis Lortie
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN20117
Release: 2020
Size: 1.24 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Four Mazurkas, Op. 6
01. I. Scherzando
02. II. Gajo
03. III. Vivace
04. IV. Presto
4 Mazurkas, Op. 24
05. I. Lento
06. II. Allegro non troppo
07. III. Moderato con anima
08. IV. Moderato
Hommage à Mozart, Op. 2
09. I. Introduzione
10. II. Tema
11. III. Variazione I
12. IV. Variazione II
13. V. Variazione III
14. VI. Variazione IV
15. VII. Variazione V
16. VIII. Alla Polacca
Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 67 post.
17. I. Vivace
18. II. Cantabile
19. III. Allegretto
20. IV. Moderato animato
Deux polonaises, Op. 40
21. I. Military
22. II. Allegro maestoso
Four Mazurkas, Op. 41
23. I. Andantino
24. II. Animato
25. III. Allegretto
26. IV. Maestoso
27. Fantaisie, Op. 49
For the sixth volume of his Chopin project, the Canad ian pianist and exclusive Chandos Artist Louis Lortie has built a programme that includes works from the earliest to the latest periods in the composer’s life, all of which have connection with or focus on Chopin’s Polish identity. The Hommage à Mozart, Op. 2 is a brilliant set of variations on ‘Là ci darem la mano’ from Don Giovanni. Chopin composed it originally for piano and orchestra, in 1827, when he was just seventeen, and later made this arrangement for solo piano (a common practise at the time). The two Polonaises, Op. 40 date from the late 1830s, and contain some of his most openly nationalistic writing. The first – nicknamed ‘Military’ – evokes sentiments of national identity and pride, whilst the second, more melancholy work portrays feelings evoked by Poland’s vanished statehood. Lortie concludes the album with Chopin’s Fantaisie, Op. 49, from 1841. This work exemplifies the brilliant improvisatory style of Chopin’s writing for piano. These works are interspersed with four sets of Mazurkas, Opp. 6, 24, 41, and 67. Chopin almost single-handedly introduced the Mazurka to Paris when he arrived there in the late 1820s, and contin ued to compose them throughout his life, transforming the Polish dance form into some of his most dazzling and memorable compositions.