Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:
A Souvenir From Vladimir Horowitz
New York Sun - United States
A just-released "souvenir" CD from "one of the great uneven performers in all history" Vladimir Horowitz's very last recital (from June of 1987) hits its highest points with Chopin: "The event took place in Hamburg, allowing the record label, Deutsche Grammophon, to call the album "Horowitz in Hamburg." A little alliteration is always appreciated."
See all stories on this topicWe then have a Chopin mazurka, the one in B minor, Op. 33, No. 4 — and Horowitz plays it with perfect rhythmic sense. The bend and snap of that thing are amazing. He plays it very purely, too, with complete refinement.
In this piece — on this track — Horowitz is in total control of his fingers. There is no old-man faltering.
He ends the printed program with Chopin's "Heroic" Polonaise — so often associated with Rubinstein, but played for decades by Horowitz, too.
Does Horowitz have enough technique — in 1987 — to get through it? Yes. And he summons up plenty of charisma. Or rather, he doesn't summon it up: It simply flows from him, naturally.
Discovering Poland’s heritage at St James CavalierMalta Independent Online - Malta
If there's Polish culture on display in Malta, Chopin cannot be far from the picture....
A piano recital by the pianist Pawel Mazurkiewicz from Poland preceded the opening of the exhibition. He performed works by Bach, Chopin, Scriabin, Grieg, Gershwin and Debussy.
Prizewinner of the prestigious Swiss music prize, Prix Credit Suisse – Jeunes Solistes 2003, Pawel Mazurkiewicz was born in Warsaw and graduated with distinction from the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw in 2000. In 2004 he graduated also with distinction and with Eduard Tschumi Music Prize from the University of Arts in Bern. He is currently assistant professor of the Piano class at the University of Arts in Bern, Switzerland. He has started composing, arranging and performing jazz music as an addition to his classical repertoire...
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Chopin in the Blogosphere:
My favourite Chopin recordings
By Stephanie Delacey
A nice post that's both entertaining, and well-researched, with audio to boot: "Here are my top ten Chopin recordings (all, interestingly enough, historical recordings made more than fifty years ago…):" In the Top 10: Dinu Lipatti, Solomon, Alfred Cortot, and even Percy Grainger...
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