....a roundup of Chopiniana: current news, views, reviews, recordings and performances in the runup to the 200th birthday of the matchless Polish keyboard composer.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

The Chopin Currency - Feb. 24, 2008


Chopin News, Reviews, & Previews:

Ivo Pogorelich Plays (1987)

RAVE review of video release of a 1987 recital in a castle in Turin, Italy, of "Croatian superstar at his peak," with special praise for his Chopin performances: "Pogorelich opens with Chopin’s moody, stormy C Minor Polonaise, which permits Pogorelich opportunities alternately to pet or pound his Hamburg Steinway. The caresses can be unbelievably soft, while a sudden sforzato to can cause you to blink. The ever-so-slow unfolding of the Nocturne in E-flat Major turns the sound into haunted raindrops, each phrase reluctantly admitting Chopin’s idiosyncratic harmony. He takes the last chords as slowly as the end of the Sibelius Fifth Symphony. The C-sharp Minor Prelude proves erotic enough to seduce all of George Sand’s descendants, though the cadences wax percussive...."

Audiophile Audition - USA
1958), the Croatian keyboard superstar whose prominence rose as judge Martha Argerich resigned when Pogorelich failed to make the third round of the Chopin ...
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Yundi Li kicks off Wassermann Festival at USU
Preview of concert at Utah State University by Li, a homecoming of sorts for Li, a past winner of the Gina Bachauer Competition in Salt Lake City. 'Mr. Li is extremely well-known in the world market," festival director Dennis Hirst said in a news release. "In his home country of China he is a pop star - he hosts an 'American Idol' type show there, and he was even featured in a Nike television commercial during the summer Olympics held in Greece.'"

Salt Lake Tribune - United States
Yundi Li, former Gina Bachauer Young Artists Piano Competition champion who went on to become the youngest-ever winner of the Chopin competition, ...
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....is a roundup of all things Chopin leading up to the 200th anniversary of the matchless Polish composer for the piano in March 2010.