Chopin's initials embellish the gate at The Hermitage -- formerly the Museum of the Chopin Festival -- where, in the summer of 1826, the Chopin family came to the spa at Duszniki "to take the waters." Photo courtesy Hanna Komarnicki

This Polonaise comes from the pen of already “mature” Chopin, almost 18 years old. The musical material here bears some similarity to the themes of his Concerti. This work is less showy and less virtuosic than the Op. 71. No. 2, composed around the same time. The manner of its opening is meditative, its melodies not dancelike, and its mood dignified. The characteristic rhythm of the polonaise doesn’t appear until later in the work, and then almost without a melody, as if to emphasize the solemnity and weight of the Polonaise as a dance step.

But wait — in the middle section we hear melodies that are both ardent and lyrical, and the element of a dance is relegated to the background. In this very section there also appear glimpses of virtuosity in a form of brilliant figurations, as if Chopin didn’t want us to forget his true prankish nature.

Nohant Manor -- Garden Entry from "Chopin's Europe" courtesy MUZA SA, Image copyright 2010 Hanna and Juliusz Komarnicki

As we know, Chopin, like Mozart and Beethoven before him, and Liszt among his contemporaries, was one of the greatest improvisers before the public. How his improvisations sounded, either public or private, in the darkness of his music salon, we will never know. It always seems to me that the closest we will ever come to hearing his musings at the piano is this single five minute Prelude, composed in 1841 in Nohant, and assigned the separate opus number 45. Sending his copyist, Julian Fontana, his manuscript (neither the autograph nor Fontana’s copy are extant), Chopin attached a note that this time (unlike in the case of the Tarantella, Op. 43) expressed a rarely shown satisfaction: “it is well modulated, isn’t it?” In this constant stream of modulations, with no specific form, the main theme and the accompaniment are intertwined. Toward the end comes a cadenza, with double notes in both hands, that a lead to an ecstatic culmination. The opening theme then reappears, and the piece dies away. Its character could be mistaken for that of a nocturne. The work was dedicated to one of Chopin’s female students, Countess Elizabeth Czernyszew. It is puzzling that this marvelous work is performed relatively rarely, although it almost invariably appears in complete recordings of the preludes. It might be worth noting that this work was a obligatory composition during the Fifth International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1955.

Chopin Project Via The Educational Channel

The premiere of The Chopin Project on The Education Channel will be cablecast tonight, March 7th at 5PM Eastern Time (22:00 GMT).  Month-long live streaming is available for convenient access anywhere via this SCHEDULE.

The Chopin Project Special, produced by the Education Channel through the stewardship of the Sarasota County School Board, is original programming highlighting The Chopin Project® — as it celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Fryderyk Chopin. The one hour documentary highlights the educational outreach component of Chopin Project’s mission to carry the music of the Polish master to young people everywhere. The program was designed as an integral part of the multi-concert Sarasota Chopin Festival presented last November by The Artist Series of Sarasota and The Chopin Project.

Daniel Rodriguez was a photojournalist for the Colombian daily newspaper El Espectador from 1936-66. His work, nearly all in black and white, is known for its beauty and simplicity. It shows a face of Colombian culture transporting the viewer on a nostalgic journey full of contrasts. Chopin’s Mazurka in F Minor, Op. 63 No. 2 performed by Polina Khatsko establishes the tone for our introduction to the photographic works of this Colombian master.

The Daniel Rodriguez Archive consists of approximately 3,500 negatives (mostly 2 ¼ x 2 ¼ inches) and 350 prints (mostly 8 x 10”).  It covers Colombian history and society from1935 through 1970.  Daniel’s photographs have been exhibited in Berlin, Barranquilla, Colombia, and Tampa, Florida. Beginning February 25, 2011, and running through April 16, selected photographs from the Daniel Rodriguez Archive will be on display in the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia. The Exhibit will showcase 60 of his photographs that are owned by the Bank of the Republic of Colombia, (Banco de la Republica del Colombia) which, like the US Library of Congress,  exists as a repository for the cultural and artistic richness of Colombia.  Bucaramanga is hosting the first exhibit in a series that will occur in twenty-three Banco de la Republica offices throughout Colombia.

Enjoy this very rare kinescope of a recital by William Kapell; and especially the second piece, Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 55 No. 2 (1835) appearing from 3′ 28″ to 8′ 14.” This extraordinary rendering from Alistair Cooke’s “Omnibus” series (CBS-TV) was recorded live March 15, 1953 at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is the only known video of any performance by Kapell who died tragically seven months later, and was mourned by the musical illuminati of the time. We also suggest a wonderful three part tribute to Kapell here:  Part 1; Part 2; and Part 3.

And for our visitor who remembers Alistair Cooke’s superb introductions for PBS’ Masterpiece Theatre (or those who recall his earlier Letter From America for the BBC), we commend the wonderfully revealing homage entitled The Unseen Alistair Cooke. It is accessible through PBS stations around the country and for viewing online now.

Copyright 2010 Hanna and Juliusz Komarnicki

“Sometimes, through the window which opens onto the garden, strands of melody waft upwards from Chopin, and mingle with the songs of nightingales and the fragrance of roses. He never stops working.”

This from Eugene Delacroix to a friend, (from Nohant, June 7, 1842), may only hint at the precision that belies what seems often from Chopin to be pure improvisation.

Listen now to Chopin Project pianist, Olga Kleiankina bring these contrasting sensibilities to the first of three Mazurkas from Opus 56.

Historic Asolo Theatre at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota

From November 12-16, 2010  The Artist Series of Sarasota in association with The Chopin Project will proudly present concerts, films and special events as part of the international celebration of the Fryderyk Chopin Year.

The programs will feature six acclaimed Chopin Project pianists: Arthur Greene, Dmitri Vorobiev, Xiaofeng Wu, Olga Kleiankina, Svetlana Smolina and Maxim Mogilevsky; and two guest soloists, cellist Abraham Feder, and soprano Hein Jung.

• Hear Arthur Greene play the exquisitely poignant and almost unknown “Valse melancolique” in F-sharp Minor (1838). He will perform this with other Chopin rarities in the Monday evening program November 15 at 7:30PM.

Click here for ticket information.

In brief:

Friday, Nov. 12 – 7:30PM: Opening performance and reception — Arthur Greene in solo recital featuring Chopin’s Four Ballades at the beautiful USF Sarasota-Manatee Rotunda;

Saturday, Nov. 13 – 2PM: A screening of the 1945 Academy Award winning Chopin biography “A Song to Remember.” Historic Asolo Theatre;

Saturday, Nov. 13 — 7:30PM: “An Evening with the Artists” – Live performance, conversation, and a festive Polish themed dinner, at a unique Sarasota residence.

Sunday, Nov. 14 — 2PM: “Chopin’s Europe” — Historic Asolo Theatre – Concert and multi-media presentation with Chopin Project pianists performing Chopin rarities and favorites – with full-stage images from the new book, “Chopin’s Europe” depicting the regions in Europe where Chopin lived, loved and composed – with live narration.

Sunday & Tuesday, Nov. 14 and 16 – 7:30PM – Historic Asolo Theatre – “Chopin: Favorites and Rarities” — 2 different programs featuring all six Chopin Project pianists.

Monday, Nov. 15 – 7:30PM – Sarasota Opera House: Chopin Spectacular: More Favorites and Rarities.  Six Chopin Project pianists and guest soloists, soprano Hein Jung and cellist, Abraham Feder.

NC State's Dr. Olga Kleiankina

Raleigh, North Carolina One of the most exciting projects new faculty pianist Olga Kleiankina brought with her to her job at NC State is her involvement in The Chopin Project. Since its genesis at the University of Michigan, the Chopin Project is devoted to exploring the entirety of Fryderyk Chopin’s works for solo piano online and in live performance. And in this bicentennial year of his birth, Chopin’s music will take center stage as part of the Faculty and Guest Recital roster of Music@NCState October 15-17, featuring Arthur Greene, Dmitri Vorobiev, and Svetlana Smolina with the Music Department’s own Olga Kleiankina.

The Festival’s two recitals taking place at Stewart Theatre (Sat. Oct 16 at 7PM and Sun, Oct 17 at 4PM) features the most beloved works by Chopin, from miniatures — such as waltzes, nocturnes and mazurkas — to major works including Ballades, Preludes and Sonatas. Purchase tickets here.

In collaboration with Ruggero Piano, the artists will also present a Benefit Concert for the Artist of Tomorrow Scholarship Fund and a free master class that focuses on Chopin’s works. Read more here.

Many of the photographs provided by Hanna and Juliusz Komarnicki from their beautifully crafted “Chopin’s Europe” and employed in our video by James De Mauro and Evelyn Bless, depict just what the couple would have seen during their walk to and from Sarzay.

Share the sights, the history and especially the music at once described by Klindworth as “entrancing”; by Huneker as “noble”; and by Hadow, as “perhaps the most exquisitely tuneful and graceful of all his Mazurkas.”

These adjectives have also been used to describe the musical sensibility Arthur Greene brings to this studio performance of Chopin’s Mazurka in A-flat Major, Op. 59, No. 2.

Click the image anywhere to watch/listen:

Purchase here: Chopin’s Europe: A Photographic Essay

Purchase the Chopin Project iPhone App (now with 25 titles)

So why is it rare? Chopin marked up some of his scores for his piano students which have been fascinating for musicologists to examine. He sometimes added fingerings and other instructions. And occasionally, as here, he added extra notes and even special cadenzas. So . . . listen closely if you know this piece and you’ll hear some lovely original additions by Monsieur Chopin himself.

The complete Opus 9 was originally published as “Les Murmures de la Seine” and dedicated to the wife of Chopin’s friend Camille Pleyel. Marie Pleyel is the woman pictured in the cameo on the album cover.

In celebration of the six month anniversary of Chopin’s 200th birthday, we are offering it as a free download until September 1, 2010.

• Download Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 (original cadenzas) MP3

The Chopin Project is proud to present the first in a series of short videos that show you where Chopin lived while creating his magnificent music. This episode focuses on Nohant Manor, the country home of Mme George Sand. Hear a musical gem performed by Polina Khatsko, see photos of Nohant Manor and read about manor life. The story is based on the book Chopin’s Europe by Hanna and Juliusz Komarnicki and Pamela and Iwo Zaluski.

Order the book here: Chopin’s Europe: A Photographic Essay

Download Chopin Project release: Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 63 No. 3

Princess Cristina Belgiojoso, Underwriter of Hexameron

When Vincenzo Bellini, a great composer of bel canto opera and one of Chopin’s musical idols died in 1835, a group of pianist-composers in Bellini’s circle chose to honor him by writing a set of six variations on a march from the last of his operas, “Il Puritani.”

The six friends were coaxed into this project by Princess Cristina Trivulzio Belgiojoso, and led by Franz Liszt, who contributed a substantial part of this nearly twenty minute long collection. The Princess, who adored Bellini, is pictured here and is separately a subject of extraordinary interest as a Parisian-exiled Italian heiress, a music loving society celeb, feminist, author, social activist and political revolutionary, teacher and pioneer.

The Hexameron was not a new musical instrument come to market in the 1830’s. Though of biblical genesis, the title for this homage to Bellini was named Hexameron rather for the six separate components of this collaborative work. There had been a longstanding legend that at one time all the pianists were gathered in the salon of the enterprising Princess, to perform the variations on six pianos; but as an acclaimed exponent of this difficult work, pianist Raymond Lewenthal reflected in his comments on Hexameron, it would have been wonderful if that had occurred, but there’s not an iota of confirmation.

Vincenzo Bellini

Other than Liszt, composers of Hexameron were Sigismund Thalberg, Johann Peter Pixis, Henri Herz, Carl Czerny and finally Fryderyk Chopin. About fifteen years earlier, a similar type of multi-composer project bore a set of fifty variations written by fifty composers on a theme of Diabelli. This theme also inspired Beethoven, who independently created a magnificent set of thirty-three variations, Op. 120 (Diabelli Variations), which became one of his crowning acheivements.

In Hexameron we hear mostly virtuosic, bravura variations. Perhaps predictably Chopin’s contribution is of a different nature, as it offers the listener a rare moment of reflection. In Chopin’s hand, Bellini’s theme is intoned as largo (slow) and his dynamics are sotto-voce (soft), accompanied by nocturne-like left hand playing and rising and falling two-note chords. The only change of mood takes place in the middle of the variation, when more dramatic, sharper rhythms and fuller dynamics break the climate of meditation.

• Download Sheet Music for free for Variation No. 6 in E Major for the Hexameron, by Fryderyk Chopin

With a Foreward by Martha Argerich, the innovative format of “Chopin’s Europe” tells his story more from a geographical point of view and less as a chronological restatement of fact.

Concise but comprehensive text by acclaimed Chopin biographers Iwo and Pamela Zaluski, together with highly evocative and personal photographs taken by Hanna Komarnicki and painstakingly curated by her husband Juliusz,  ”Chopin’s Europe” really does bring to life the beauties, moods and aspects of Chopin’s continent, from remote Poturzyn in the sub-Ukrainian hinterland, to the wild beauties of Majorca to the mist-swathed Highland of Scotland.

Some news: “Chopin’s Europe” will be presented to the Chopin Society, UK on Sunday May 2 following a 3:30PM recital by Martin Kasik at St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden.

Watch a  slide show here:
[See post to watch Flash video]

Purchase here: Chopin’s Europe: A Photographic Essay

Lutz, Florida – The Chopin Project® today announced the initial release of 20 exclusive new recordings, including many Chopin rarities via The Chopin Project® iPhone App from the Apple® iTunes Store. The Chopin Project® App offers a growing discography of new studio recordings from the Chopin Project® Listening Library.

With performances by internationally acclaimed Chopin Project® pianists represented throughout these posts and pages including Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Arthur Greene, the Chopin Project® App introduces listeners to the magical world of Fryderyk Chopin and the exquisite poetry of his compositions for piano.

The Chopin Project® App is the first and only iPhone app in the world dedicated to streaming performances of Fryderyk Chopin’s piano repertory. In addition, the App’s functionality includes search and sort features as well as a capacity to create playlists by genre, key and date of composition.

“Fans of Chopin will be thrilled with the quality of these performances and the recordings,” says Chopin Project® Founder, Frederick Slutsky. “And the app ushers the genius of Chopin into the Digital Age.”

With over 50 recordings already in the vaults, and 30 more in current production, the Chopin Project’s® exclusive library of original new studio tracks will include everything from his lesser known and rarely performed repertory (including the Songs) to classic favorites. Most will be added to the app throughout the 2010-2011 “Year of Chopin” – a worldwide celebration of the composer’s 200th birthday on March 1, 1810.

Below are some of the screen shots.

'Tributo a Chopin' 80 x 36 Oil on Canvass ©Camargo Vilardy, 2009. Photo courtesey of Angela Bustamonte (c) 2009

Today’s posting embodies a grand fusion of the 19th century music of Fryderyk Chopin and the visual expression of twenty-first century Colombian sculptor and painter, Carlos Camargo Vilardy, whose love for Chopin’s music provided enormous impulse for the enterprise.

The creation of the painting presented here in video format occupied ten days in Tampa, Florida, where Vilardy and his son, Barranquilla filmmaker Felipe Camargo were immersed in the music, the painting and the experience.

Click on the video below to watch and listen. As always, we encourage your comments.

© Copyright Felipe Camargo

• Listen to Tarantella in A-flat, by Fryderyk Chopin

Self-appraisals are often too charitable; at other times, too critical. “I hope I won’t write anything as dreadful too soon.” Those were Chopin’s words about his own Tarantella in A-flat Major, Opus 43 (1841). Was there justification for his remark?

The Tarantella belongs to Chopin’s occasional compositions, such as Bolero and Berceuse — in other words, works he never revisited. We don’t know what prompted Chopin to compose it. It was probably not a commission from some publisher. We know Chopin adored the opera and was very fond of Bellini and Rossini. Possibly in his Tarantella he simply attempted to follow in Rossini’s footsteps by writing an instrumental work that was of a vocal provenance. He knew Rossini’s “La Danza” and indicated that fact in a letter instructing his composer-friend and copyist, Julian Fontana [to] “. . . check in Rossini’s collection, if his Tarantella is in 6/8 meter or 12/8.”

Thus as a typical composition of that genre, Chopin’s Tarantella is from beginning to end played “in one breath,” without a moment of rest. It has four different segments, not really varied, which might be a reason the work attained rather poor marks. The best “compliment” in defense of this miniature (giving new meaning to the work lukewarm) came from Arthur Hedley, a noted musicologist and Chopin  authority, proclaiming “the frantic character of the music is captured fine, except that without the Italian gaiety.”

The sentiments of Chopin and Hedley are certainly not universal. By popular demand, the folks in the great state of Iowa in America’s heartland, have requested an encore statewide Iowa Public Radio broadcast of Chopin Project pianist, Dmitri Vorobiev’s live performance of Tarantella in A-flat.

Listen to the performance and to Mr. Vorobiev’s discussion of Tarantella with host Jacqueline Halbloom on “Performance Iowa” Sunday April 4th at 1PM CDT

Iowa Public Radio’s brand new performance series, “PERFORMANCE IOWA” premiers tonight in celebration of Chopin’s 200th Birthday.

Host Jacqueline Halbloom presents Dmitri Vorobiev, Chopin Project pianist and UNI Assistant Professor of Music in live performance of two Chopin rarities: Tarantella in A-flat Major, Op. 43 (1841) and Allegro de Concert, Op. 46 (1834-41). Pianist Ksenia Nosikova, Associate Professor of Piano of University of Iowa will play pieces by Liszt and Schumann, each in honor of the composers’ association with Chopin in this Bicentennial year.

“PERFORMANCE IOWA” aspires to bring listeners closer to the music by including the views and observations of the performers.

Tonight’s performances will be broadcast live state-wide on Iowa Public Radio Classical frequencies. Listen at 7PM Central DT (00:00:00 UCT/GMT). A link to open the live player can be found at:

http://iowapublicradio.org/scheduleGridDay.php?dayOfWeek=5&signal=KSUI

then click the “listen online” link at the top of the page.

According to Wikipdia, a Contra Danse was an English folk dance incorporating two long rows of partners facing and moving towards or away from each other. At the end of the 17th century, these dances (then known as English country dances) were taken up by French dancers leading to hybrid choreographies. The French first called them contra-dance or contredanse. Usually set in 2/4 or 6/8 meter, the dances spread and over time were reinterpreted throughout the Western world. Eventually the French form of the name (following the erroneous belief that its genesis was French) came to be associated with American folk dances, especially in New England, where they have managed to survive.

The Contredanse in G-flat major, attributed to Chopin, was not discovered and published until 1934. This was more than 107 years after it was composed (at age 17). Though not subject to current debate, some speculation still exists as to its authenticity because the only remaining autograph (dated 1827) was not Chopin’s; the work is nevertheless believed by many to have come from Chopin’s pen.

It is a charming miniature though rarely performed, an engaging encore whose authorship   may, especially in this bicentennial year, engage the attention of a youthful listener intent on solving a musical mystery.

Listen Now to Chopin Project performer, Dmitri Vorobiev play this Chopin rarity. Then, please participate in the experiment, explained below:

The Experiment: Start the YouTube video but turn the YouTube volume down so you can’t hear it at all. While you’re watching the now silent YouTube video, watch it through while listening to the Chopin Contredanse. Please send us a comment about your experience.

Acclaimed Chopin Project pianist Svetlana Smolina will play Chopin’s Twenty-four Preludes, Op. 28 as part of her performance tomorrow at 4:30PM (Friday, March 5th) at the Winter Garden main stage in New York’s World Financial Center. Ms Smolina is among the virtuosi performing in the 200 hour Wall Street marathon celebrating the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth.

Chopin once wrote, “When one does a thing, it appears good, otherwise one would not write it. Only later comes reflection, and one discards or accepts the thing. Time is the best censor, and patience a most excellent teacher.”Upon further reflection, Chopin must have realized that this Waltz was an all-time keeper, a favorite of piano virtuosos and amateurs alike since Chopin’s own time. It was a notable favorite of Artur Rubinstein. In fact, the Chopin.Net site has a nice anecdote about Rubinstein:

When people asked him how he could continue to play the same waltz for over 75 years, he replied, “Because it’s not the same, and I don’t play it the same way.”

• Download sheetmusic for Waltz in C-sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2 by Fryderyk Chopin
• Download Easy to play sheetmusic for Waltz in C-sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2 by Fryderyk Chopin

With excitement and gratitude for Fryderyk Chopin’s music, we celebrate his 200th Birthday by introducing our newest feature – The Chopin Project Audio Player. Click the red “Listen Now” button and music will play. Click on a different title and it will (or should) play. Make a Playlist. Sort by Genre, Key and Year. Have some fun with it. Let us know what you think and how we can improve it.

Now that Chopin’s music is playing, enjoy a captivating view of the Global Community of Chopin Year Celebrants with Chopin Planet. Click the center of the spinning globe to activate a more complete visual experience. (If your browser isn’t responsive, try Firefox).The lights represent the cities of all visitors to the site during the past few months or so; the pulsing red lights represent current visitors, including you.

While the composer’s music was sublime, his personality was another matter entirely

Chopin is no less fascinating for being a difficult personality. Novelist, journalist, pre-concert talker, blogger – Jessica Duchen joins others, including Chopin’s lover George Sand, in casting a critical eye on the musician’s relationships with others. The exquisite sensibility that produced music overflowing with feeling also made the composer hard to live with. — Eve

It’s never a good idea to judge art by the artist’s character, as we too often do these days, and there are few better examples of why not than Frédéric Chopin. He is set to be the romantic hero of 2010, his bicentenary year: concert halls and record companies are preparing a barrage of celebratory events and CDs. But anniversaries can be mixed blessings for the dead: look closely at any adored individual and it is likely that something less than savoury will be lurking. There’s no doubting the greatness of the Polish pianist-composer’s music; but that greatness came at a heavy price for those who were close to him, or tried to be . . . Click to read more

Emanuel Ax

Ring in the New Year

Stephen Dankner reports Polish-American pianist Emanuel Ax will present a solo recital at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 7:30 p.m.  commemorating of the 200th birthdays of Frederyk Chopin and Robert Schumann, and promises a thrilling experience.

A brilliant young musician’s mysterious change in direction

A LOCAL LIFE: Preble Earle Donoho, 79

By T. Rees Shapiro
Washington Post

Starting in the late 1930s, when he was in knee pants, Preble Earle Donoho was the Washington area’s leading piano prodigy.Before reaching his teens, “Prib,” as he was known, was a veteran of major concert halls from Washington to New York. The Washington Post wrote that he played with “brilliance, speed, power and accuracy.” The Washington Star described him as “mature musically and technically beyond his years.” Click to read the full text of Mr. Shapiro’s story.

Newspaper obituaries used to be assigned to rookies. Now they have bylines. Obits can sum up the themes in a person’s life, the key meanings a person gives to those  left behind. Preble Earl Donoho (“Prib”) was a prodigy, a boy for whom music was a gift; and yet he abandoned Chopin recitals to become a newspaper typesetter. Mr. Donoho was raised to be a concert pianist; he wanted to be a spy. What’s the meaning? We all have multiple possible lives. A gift does not always carry with it a compulsion to be used. For Mr. Donoho, the mysteries of everyday life were ultimately more seductive than the melodies of Chopin. -Eve

Shanghai Marathon to Celebrate 200 Years of Chopin

SHANGHAI’S artistic directors are working overtime to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth next year.  Piano lovers are in for a treat as the world’s top interpreters visit for a series of awe-inspiring concerts, notes Nie Xin. 

For people in Shanghai, 2010 is a speical year. Besides the six-month World Expo, next year also marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of great pianist and composer Frederic Chopin.

The classical music stage in Shanghai has geared up to celebrate the master’s influence as a great Polish composer.

The first heavyweight event will be kicked off in January by Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) with its “12-Hour Chopin Marathon” at Shanghai Concert Hall. 

Read more: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=423710&type=Feature#ixzz0aehe6ePV

Arthur Greene:

“Today’s entry takes us into far more familiar Chopin territory. The Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 9 No. 2 comes from around 1830, -after Chopin had left Warsaw forever. But the version I’m playing here has a bit of a twist. There are some scores of Chopin’s works that he marked up for his piano students, and they’ve been a fascinating find for musicologists. You can see where he marked things on the scores, adding fingerings and other instructions for his students. And in some of them Chopin added extra notes – and even little cadenzas! So if you know this beloved Nocturne, listen extra closely, and you’ll hear some things that aren’t usually there.”

From Britton Recital Hall, listen to Arthur Greene perform Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat Op. 9 No. 2 (original cadenzas)

• Download sheetmusic for Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 9, No. 2 by Fryderyk Chopin
• Download Easy to Play sheetmusic for Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 9, No. 2 by Fryderyk Chopin

Performance Today is broadcast on 245 public radio stations across the country and reaches 1.1 million listeners each week. Since each station decides what time to air the program, the most direct route to hear the show is the Performance Today website (Program Archive June 1, 2009) until Tuesday, June 7th. 

On an earlier Performance Today program, host Fred Child, described the Chopin Project as

“. . . working towards being a comprehensive site of information about and music by, Frederic Chopin: lots of audio, lots of news bits, and . . . even a Chopin quotepage!. This is kind of Wikipedia-style project and they’re inviting YOUR feedback and YOUR information as well. ”

• Download the sheetmusic and learn more about “Three Ecossaises,” Op. 72

We thank you for your comments! 

“One is loath to believe that the echo of Chopin’s magic music can ever fall upon unheeding ears.  He may become old-fashioned, but, like Mozart, he will remain eternally beautiful.”

Even for a piece barely more than a minute in length, the “eternally beautiful” Chopin cited by writer and pianist james Huneker (author of the definitive book Chopin: The Man and his Music) is evident in this brief Cantabile.    This little gem often turns up folios and other albums devoted to 19th-century miniatures, though it didn’t actually appear in print until 1931, nearly 100 years after Chopin compoosed it.

Cantabile, after all, is defined as “to sing or play in a sweetly singing manner.”  See if you don’t think that’s exactly what Chopin Project Pianist Noel McRobbie does in this performance…

• Listen to Cantabile in B-flat, KK 1230 (1834) by Fryderyk Chopin
• Download a Public Domain edition of the sheet music for Cantabile in B-flat, KK 1230 (1834) by Fryderyk Chopin

Song to Remember

Louisville Courier-Journal – Louisville,KY,USA

Louisville paper’s local Answer Man recalls a 1940s Chopin biopic…

Dear David Inman: My husband took me to see a movie on our first date back in 1945-46 called “Polonaise.” I cannot find any information on that movie and would like to know who the actors were. Hope you can help. — B.C., Louisville

Dear B.C.: In the words of The Little Engine That Could, I think I can.

There isn’t a movie actually titled “Polonaise,” but there is a piece of music by that title composed by Chopin. And the 1945 film “A Song to Remember” is a biography of Chopin in which he spends quite a bit of time on “Polonaise.” So I think that’s the movie you saw!

“A Song to Remember” stars Cornel Wilde as Chopin and Merle Oberon as his love, George Sand, who at one point says to Chopin, “Discontinue that so-called ‘Polonaise’ jumble you’ve been playing for days.” Ouch!

The movie’s on video, in case you were curious.

See all stories on this topic

Chopin Reviews:

PADEREWSKI: His Earliest Recordings, 1911-1912 – Ignace Jan Padereswski, piano…

Audiophile Audition – USA

The thorough online classical-CD review journal belies its “Audiophile” label to review some ancient recordings (on a Chopin-like Erard piano, no less!) by another Polish piano great from the past. “[Need we add - definitely not for audiophiles! The piano has long been the most difficult instrument to properly record, and 1911...well...good luck...Ed.].

Recording engineer Seth Winner has utilized the CEDAR process to remove the most obnoxious ticks, pops, surface abrasions without affecting the dominant acoustical signal, virtually a century old. Paderewski favored the Erard Piano, and its peculiar timbre and resonance manage to survive in varying degrees of presence. At their best, the acoustic discs sound as lively as good electrical recordings, and that is saying something. The A Major Polonaise of Chopin, for instance, rings clearly and establishes the nationalist and poet at once. Schubert’s “Hark! Hark! The Lark!” declaims without sentimentality, while Stojowski’s Chant d’amour suffers from poor sound and decidedly sheds a rueful tear. We detect in Paderewski’s technical arsenal a slight anticipation of the right hand in the left, the minute asymmetry adding to the textural piquancy of performance or the inaccuracy, according to a puritan’s lights. Otherwise filler passages often gain a sense of personal momentum and personality, and the rigors of metrical conformity do not bind Paderewski’s palpable adjustment of music to suit his unique personality.

The little Etude in G-flat of Chopin perfectly conveys this point, as sparkling and impish in its way as that of Hofmann. The Chopin Etude in F from Op. 25 struggles a bit, but when it does fly the effect is aerial. The A Minor Mazurka, Op. 17, No. 4 relates a marvelously bitter-sweet canvas, entirely idiomatic, with plastic grace-notes. Sweetly erotic nostalgia informs the Op. 15, No. 1 Nocturne in F, though the middle section offers some dark currents and intimations of muscular power that later technology might have served with more justice. Sensual flirtations mark the F-sharp Nocturne, Op. 15, No. 2, the seduction taking on more passion in its yearning trio….

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Hélène Grimaud CHOPIN / LISZT / SCHUMANN

By elhenry(elhenry)

From a blog called Music is the Key, which “aspires to share the taste for classical music and to promote its great composers and interpreters. If you like an album, buy it in order to support the artists and their work.” a classic Japanese-issue CD from Helene Grimaud gets the star of the day:

The Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 is the first of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin’s four ballades for piano solo. It was composed in 1835-36 during the composer’s early days in Paris, and is dedicated to “Monsieur le Baron de Stockhausen,” Hanoverian ambassador to France.
Chopin cited the poet Adam Mickiewicz as an influence for his ballades (this according to a rumour based on a remark by Robert Schumann concerning the genesis of Chopin’s second ballade). The exact inspiration for each piece is not clear.

Music Is The Key – http://orchestralworks.blogspot.com/

Warsaw

Bharath Devanathan’s blog – http://www.bhatta.net/blog

A travelogue around Eastern Europe from a Mumbai-born programmer…

Chopin Concerts

Warsaw is the home of Frederic Chopin, the great pianist and composer. During the summers, every Sunday, the famous Park Łazienkowski hosts free concerts, where professional pianists perform one of Chopin’s masterpieces. I happened to be there on a sunday and decided to check it out. Lots of people gather at the park, lying on the grass, around the water. Its a perfect setting for some soothing piano tunes on a lazy afternoon.

Today’s Desert Island Disc: Chopin Nocturnes (Angela Hewitt)

The Lost Art of Correspondence

Quotidian Vicissitudes – http://davidrochester.wordpress.com

Highly recommended reading from a blogger who isn’t a fan of Chopin’s music, but rather the composer’s writing: