Chopin News, Views, and Reviews:

Maurizio Pollini: when inspiration flows through to the third encore
Telegraph.co.uk – United Kingdom

London critic finds the essence of the Italian artist’s mastery in a brief Chopin etude:

When everything clicks in a Maurizio Pollini recital, as it did here, it can be an absorbing, revelatory experience. This was a vintage example of his fascinating pianism, combining as it does a focused intellect with poetic sensibility, and a passion tempered by reason.

You do not expect, nor do you get, anything gratuitously extrovert with Pollini, and there was no more acute example of his essential poise and stylistic awareness than in his second encore, Chopin’s famous Revolutionary Study.

Where some might launch headlong into it with barnstorming bravura, Pollini was more circumspect, not to the detriment of the music’s drama but with a care for colour that went way beyond mere technical virtuosity. [...]

Thoroughly in his element, Pollini played Chopin’s Four Mazurkas Op 33 with a breathtaking mix of wistful melancholy and rhythmic impetus. In the B minor Scherzo, as in the G minor Ballade given as the third encore, his inspiration flowed seamlessly.

Pollini’s rare artistry is restricted
This is London – London,England,UK

Same recital, entirely different view from the Evening Standard critic….

Undoubtedly one of the pianistic giants of his generation, Maurizio Pollini offers an increasingly frustrating experience in recital. Now in his mid-60s, he can still pack them in to the Festival Hall and bring them to their feet after three rousing encores. But a disengaged quality in his playing mars too much of what he does.

[...]

It has to be said, though, that Pollini’s technical mastery is no longer unassailable. That insecurity may well account for the scrambled, vertiginous nature of virtuoso passages, such as those of Chopin’s Scherzo No 1 in B minor. There was some impressive playing here, too: Pollini’s tone is always ingratiating and there were many wonderfully nuanced moments.

But once again expansive gestures were shunned, with the result that too much was flattened out and under-characterised

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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Chopin is the Only Ring Tone for You
By Evan

I have a custom ring tone setup on my cell phone when my bride Amanda calls. Yesterday at work I thought I heard her calling … but it was just the internet radio?! How could she call me through the internet radio?
My guess is that my cell phone’s built in melody #7 is actually a version of Chopin’s Étude No. 5 in G-Flat Major “Black Keys.”

Wild.er – http://blog.evanwilder.com

Chopin in the YouTubeoSphere:

YouTube – Yundi Li – Chopin “Fantasie” Impromptu, Op. 66

Professionally shot and released DG video of the Fantasie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66 No. 1…

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Ingrid Fliter: ‘In the middle of my salad, he told me I’d won’
Telegraph.co.uk – United Kingdom

A “Get To Know Her” introduction to UK readers of It Girl Ingrid Fliter …

Born in Argentina and now living in Milan, Fliter (pronounced Fleeter) has in the past toured Japan and the US and won the silver medal in the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2000. But the Gilmore was an important catalyst, bringing her an EMI contract, management in the US and Europe, and a place on the BBC’s New Generation Artists scheme. And now a series of dates in the UK will introduce her to wider audiences, with a Wigmore Hall recital and appearances at the Cheltenham and City of London Festivals.

“The Gilmore changed my life deeply, completely,” she says. “In the beginning I had to deal with a lot of pressure and expectations,” she admits. “But after two years I’m now really starting to enjoy this very hectic, intense concert life.” Her London debut last year, together with her first disc of Chopin for EMI, confirmed her phenomenal technique and the spontaneity of expression she brings to music. There is also a fluent, singing quality to her playing. [...]

“Chopin made me discover the beauty of piano-playing,” she says. “I was very lucky to be introduced to his music from the very beginning. Pianistically speaking, it develops the imagination and good taste as regards rubato – where to give and where to take, in a natural way that a singer would do. Rubato in Chopin is very often exaggerated, but I imagine him as a Classical composer, not as a Romantic, though that doesn’t restrain you from being dramatic and dark. Sometimes the music reaches moments of deep sorrow.”

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The Chopin Experience, Radio 3
Independent – London,England,UK

More musings on the effect of the BBC’s Chopin Experience…

In conversation with the pianist Nikolai Demidenko, the latter revealed that Chopin knew his limitations as a composer, but said that he knew that his work appealed particularly to women. “A short, direct line straight to the heart,” he said, and Walker said “Mmm”, and I was reminded of a friend of mine who said that the only time he really “got” Chopin was when he was in love. So, if you were in love during the weekend of 17-18 May, then you will have enjoyed The Chopin Experience immensely.

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Who needs Rudolf Nureyev?
The Observer – UK

No question what’s the hot dance ticket in London town….this UK scribe says the current production of “Dances at a Gathering” (bodies by Robbins, soul by Chopin) is on par with the best ever…

Jerome Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering (1969) is a plotless work set to piano pieces by Chopin. Tender, dreamy and shot through with a sense of long-ago love affairs, the piece acquires a different dynamic with every cast. When the Royal Ballet danced it in the 1970s, it became a signature piece, a group portrait of an unforgettable constellation of stars. When the company performs Robbins’s piece today, the layers of allusion are dense. But in a good way: the new cast has new things to tell us and is not about to be crowded off the stage by ghosts….

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Chopin News from Outside of London:

After the Good Die Young
Wall Street Journal – USA

Beautifully-written article on the tragically short-lived pianist William Kapell, occasioned by the release of a just-discovered 1953 live concert performance in Australia that turned out to be Kapell’s last recording…

You’d think that Kapell’s youthful and spectacular demise would have captured the imagination of the listening public and ensured his lasting fame. Charlie Parker, who died two years later at the equally untimely age of 34, remains to this day a cultural icon. Likewise Jackson Pollock and James Dean, whose lives were cut short around the same time. Why, then, did Kapell slip through the cracks of renown? [...]

Kapell died too soon to record more than a handful of the large-scale works in his repertoire, but in recent years a fair number of live recordings have surfaced. RCA, his old label, has just released “Kapell Rediscovered,” a two-CD set of radio broadcasts made during a 1953 tour of Australia. They are his last recordings — he was killed flying home from that tour — and they include a number of pieces that he never recorded in the studio, among them Chopin’s B Minor Scherzo, Debussy’s “Suite Bergamasque” and Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata. The sound is only fair, but the performances are pure Kapell, headlong, vital and crackling with a vibrant immediacy that makes you feel as though he were playing in your very own living room.

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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Chopin Nocturne in E MinorDedicated to Two Individuals
By Jeremiah Jones(Jeremiah Jones)

Chopin’s Nocturne in E-minor is one of my favorite Nocturnes. It is a short, yet profound work of art that takes the listener through several of life’s most important emotions. It can stir the soul and awaken the spirit. …
– http://www.signmypiano.com/

Jack Conte’s Video Song – The Giant, Radiohead/Chopin

By robkwok
A VideoSong is a new Medium with two rules:. 1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice). 2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds). The Giant. Radiohead and Chopin Combination …
Unquality: Retarded Videos for… – http://www.unquality.com

Chopin News, Reviews, & Previews:

Pianist Diana Fanning

Well-traveled Middlebury-based pianist offers a recital in the Vermont state capital with an emphasis on Chopin: “I have chosen pieces that I have loved for years, and I think they illustrate different aspects of Chopin’s artistry, from the utmost delicacy to tremendous power.”
Barre Montpelier Times Argus – Barre,VT,USA
Works of Frederic Chopin comprise the entire second half of the program. Fanning says, “I have so enjoyed thinking about the poetic and passionate music of …
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Debut album ‘Equanimity’ is dream come true for computer consultant

Computer consultant-turned-composer Ryan Stewart cites Chopin as one of his major influences on his new CD that ranges from “solo piano to lush orchestration.”
Deseret News – Salt Lake City,UT,USA
Stewart’s influences range from classical works of Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Debussy to jazz icon Harry Connick Jr., New Age artists Vangelis and film …
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New album shows Alicia Keys as she is
Richmond reviewer notes one of pop diva’s trademarks – showing off her classical chops in concert and on disc…
Commonwealth Times (subscription) – Richmond,VA,USA
Keys begins with a piece that bears a striking resemblance to Frederick Chopin’s “Nocturne in C minor.” The “As I Am (Intro)” ends with a smooth beat laid …
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Learning the keys to success
Charming essay about a life lesson learned when a Chopin Nocturne brought a young overachiever to her knees… University Daily Kansan – Lawrence,KS,USA
I was working on a nocturne by Chopin, and for nearly two hours every night, I would sit at my piano going over and over each scale, chord and trill. …
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Allie Hughes Plays the El Mo

This time, it’s a Canadian singer-songwriter who gives a nod to Monsieur Chopin as a major influence….
Torontoist – Ontario, Canada
… to hear that she counts Kurt Weill and Stephen Sondheim among her diverse list of influences (that also includes Chopin, Brahms and plenty of Rufus). …
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Solo Recital by Pianist Yundi Li

Preview of March 18 Toronto recital by budding Chinese superstar pianist, “propelled to international fame when he won first prize at the 2000 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland at the age of 18.”

Exchange Morning Post – Waterloo,Ontario,Canada
His upcoming program includes works by Chopin, Liszt and Mussorgsky’s powerhouse Pictures At An Exhibition. Yundi Li was propelled to international fame …
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Chopin Videos:

Clip”Scherzo No.1″ by Chopin

From a new music-instruction site called “Click for Lessons” a video of a California piano teacher

By thomaspenders@comcast.net (Thomas P.)
Chopin scherzo no.1 performd by Thomas Penders.
Enspired Video – http://enspired.com/

Finding the key Pianist marks 35 years of teaching
Waukegan News Sun – Waukegan,IL,USA
Frédéric Chopin wrote four scherzi for the piano. The first three are especially dark and dramatic. The composer Robert Schumann remarked of them, …
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Virtuoso Chinese Pianist Yundi Li to Perform Recital
EVLiving – USA
As part of his Scottsdale program Li will perform Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 330; Chopin’s Four Mazurkas, Nos. 22 – 25, Op. 33; Chopin’s Nocturne …
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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra announces 2008-09 season
Special concerts (non-subscription) Lang Lang plays Chopin with Maestro Järvi and the NJSO, providing a rare opportunity to hear one of classical music’s brightest stars perform both of Frédéric Chopin’s elegant and affecting concertos. …
Home News Tribune – News – http://www.thnt.com

In-Ae Ha on Chopin
By Alan Brandt
Today’s Lunchtime Classics artist, In-Ae Ha, shares her thoughts on Chopin with the From the Top folks. You can read the short interview here. In-Ae appeared on From the Top in 2005, after winning our Young Artists Competition.
Classical 90.5 – http://www.wuol.org/CMS

Noteworks in the hands of a real composer. And, Chopin!
By John Umbaugh
Too many rounds, at the very end. It certainly sounds unique, though. By the way, the Chopin song that was the source of the transliteration can be viewed here. The relevant part starts around 0:31. …
citym.org/ue – http://citym.org/ue/