Composer: Igor Stravinsky, Frédéric Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Webern, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Maurizio Pollini
Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Maurizio Pollini, Karl Böhm, Jerzy Katlewicz
Number of Discs: 3
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalogue: 4779529
Release: 2012
Size: 795 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Stravinsky: Three movements ‘Petruschka’
01. Danse russe. Allegro giusto
02. Chez Pétrouchka
03. La semaine grasse. Con Moto – Allegretto – Tempo giusto – Agitato
Chopin: 12 Études, op. 25
04. No. 1 in A-Flat Major “Harp Study”
05. No. 2 in F Minor “The Bees”
06. No. 3 in F Major “The Horseman”
07. No. 4 in A Minor “Paganini”
08. No. 5 in E Minor “Wrong Note”
09. No. 6 in G-Sharp Minor “Thirds”
10. No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor “Cello”
11. No. 8 in D-Flat Major “Sixths”
12. No. 9 in G-Flat Major “Butterfly Wings”
13. No. 10 in B Minor “Octave”
14. No. 11 in A Minor “Winter Wind”
15. No. 12 in C Minor “Ocean”
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
16. I. Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
17. II. Arietta – Adagio molto semplice e cantabile
Webern: Variations for Piano, Op. 27
18. 1. Sehr mäßig
19. 2. Sehr schnell
20. 3. Ruhig, fließend
CD 02
01. Chopin: Polonaise No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 44
02. Chopin: Polonaise No. 6 in A-Flat Major, Op. 53 “Heroic”
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 In E Flat Major Op. 73 -“Emperor”
03. 1. Allegro
04. 2. Adagio un poco mosso
05. 3. Rondo (Allegro)
06. Liszt: La Lugubre Gondola, S.200 No. 1
07. Liszt: Richard-Wagner – Venezia, S.201
Debussy: Préludes / Book 1, L.117
08. 6. Des pas sur la neige
09. 7. Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest
10. 10. La cathédrale engloutie
CD 03
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491
01. 1. (Allegro)
02. 2. Larghetto
03. 3. (Allegretto
Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier: Book 1, BWV 846-869
04. Praeludium 4
05. Fuga 4 a 5
06. Praeludium 15
07. Fuga 15 a 3
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11
08. 1. Allegro maestoso
09. 2. Romance (Larghetto)
10. 3. Rondo (Vivace)
This is a 3-CD limited-edition hardcover book, with repertoire chosen personally by the artist, consisting of complete works (not extracts or “bits and pieces”) from his repertoire – so, from Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Chopin’s op. 25 Études to complete concertos by Beethoven and Mozart. As an added bonus there is the 1960 performance of Chopin’s First Piano Concerto from the Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Maurizio Pollini’s name may not be quite as recognizable as Martha Argerich’s or Alfred Brendel’s, but he is just as skilled as his slightly better known contemporaries. For his 70th birthday, Deutsche Grammophon put together a few special packages of his recordings, made for the label between 1972 and 2011. One of those is The Art of Maurizio Pollini, a three-disc sampling of the recordings, with biographical notes and a discography combined in a CD-sized book. The music ranges from excerpts from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier to Three Movements from Petrushka by Stravinsky, with the bulk of the music coming in between. Chopin and Beethoven, two composers with whom the pianist is frequently associated, are well-represented. It’s a lovely introduction to Pollini’s talent for anyone who has yet to discover it.