Louis Lortie - Louis Lortie Plays Chopin 6 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

This is the fourth volume of Louis Lortie's highly-successful series devoted to Chopin. The recording perfectly illustrates how Chopin elevated the waltz to a genre of musical art, from danses de salon - evocative of a genial milieu - to 'works' with proper opus numbers. Growing up in the 1820's, the composer at first viewed the waltz purely pragmatically, as a means to a social end in the dance salon. But after spending time in Vienna and Paris in the 1830s he decided that a waltz might be worthy of the deeper appreciation accorded a 'work'. From moods of liveliness, in introductory calls to the dance, to more poetical or sentimental sections, the affective achievement in these works is great, whether the mood captured is plaintive (the B minor, A flat major, or F minor ones), evocative of the dance salon (the E major), lilting (the D flat major), reminiscent of a Ländler (the A flat major, the only waltz Chopin composed in 3 / 8 meter), dramatic (the E minor), or brilliant (the G flat major). The nocturnes also trace their origins to the salon. The genre derives from a type of vocal music, akin to the solo romance, but highly popular among amateurs as an opportunity for singing duets. Album Tracks 1. Waltz No. 19 in a Minor, Op. Posth 2. Waltz No. 14 in E minor, Op. Posth 3. Waltz No. 15 in E Major, Op. Posth 4. Waltz No. 10 in B minor, Op. 69, No. 2 5. Waltz No. 17 in E-Flat Major, Op. Posth 6. Waltz No. 11 in G-Flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1 7. Waltz No. 12 in F minor, Op. 70, No. 2 8. Waltz No. 13 in D-Flat Major, Op. 70, No. 3 9. Waltz No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. Posth., InchSostenutoInch 10. Waltz No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 18, InchGrande Valse BrillanteInch 11. Waltz No. 16 in A-Flat Major, Op. Posth 12. Waltz No. 2 in A-Flat Major, Op. 34, No. 1, InchValse BrillanteInch 13. Waltz No. 3 in a Minor, Op. 34, No. 2, InchValse BrillanteInc

Album Tracks 1. Nocturne No. 6 in G minor, Op. 15, No. 3 2. Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 3. Nocturne No. 4 in F Major, Op. 15, No. 1 4. Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38 5. Nocturne No. 2 in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 6. Nocturne No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1 7. Ballade No. 3 in a Flat Major, Op. 47 8. Nocturne No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55, No. 1 9. Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 10. Berceuse in D Flat Major, Op. 57 11. Nocturne No. 5 in F Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2 12. Barcarolle in F Sharp Major, Op. 60

For the seventh volume of his Chopin project, the Canadian pianist and exclusive Chandos Artist Louis Lortie has built a program that includes works from the earliest to the latest periods in the composer's life, all of which are linked by their evocation of 'nationality' - Italy, Spain and of course Chopin's beloved Poland. The Rondo à la Mazur, Op. 5 and the Rondo, Op. 16 are examples of this longer form that was linked with the 'brilliant' style of piano writing popular in the 1820's. Chopin soon moved away from this style, in search of a more progressive compositional style. Composed around the same time as the Op. 16 Rondo, the Boléro, Op. 19 evokes the exoticism of Spain, whilst the Tarantella Op. 43 reflects the Parisian vogue for the southern Italian dance sparked by Auber's grand opera 'La Muette de Portici'. Now one of his most celebrated works, the Polonaise, Op. 53 represented for Chopin the culmination of his project, begun with the two Polonaises, Op. 26, to imbue the genre with powerful national symbolism. These works are interspersed with four sets of Mazurkas, Opp. 17, 30, 63, and 68. Chopin almost single-handedly introduced the Mazurka to Paris when he arrived there in the late 1820s, and continued to compose them throughout his life, transforming the Polish dance form into some of his most dazzling and memorable compositions. Album Tracks 1. Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 17 (1833-34) 2. Rondo À la Mazur, Op. 5 (1826-27) 3. Boléro, Op. 19 (1833) 4. From Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 68 (1830, 1827, 1829) 5. Rondo, Op. 16 (C. 1833) 6. Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 30 (1837) 7. Tarantelle, Op. 43 (1841) 8. Trois Mazurkas, Op. 63 (1846) 9. Polonaise, Op. 53 'Héroïque' (1842) 10. Mazurka, Op. 68 No. 4 (1846)