The Chopin Currency - June 2nd, 2008

Chopin News, Views, Reviews, and Previews:

'Chopin Manuscript' wins top Audie
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA

And the winner is... The Audie Awards (the so-called "Oscars of the Audiobook Industry") hand out the top prize to The Chopin Manuscript -- a "serial thriller" named Audiobook of the Yearat the 13th annual Audie Awards banquet Friday in Los Angeles.

But don't go looking for "The Chopin Manuscript" on the bookshelf.

There is no print version.

For the first time ever, the top audio production is available only as a download from its producer, Audible Inc. Read by Alfred Molina, this World War II-era thriller revolves around the search for a document that may or may not have been connected to composer Frederic Chopin.

It is reported to have been hidden by the Nazis in Kosova. Nine best-selling mystery-thriller writers, headed by Jeffery Deaver, wrote "The Chopin Manuscript," which came out in serial form starting last September. This is very much the way Stephen King's "The Green Mile" debuted in 1996.

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Eternal Sonata Review
Game Reviews - Phoenix,AZ,USA

The Chopin-based video game gets high praise from the major game-review site TGM (8.5/10 overall)

Eternal Sonata, developed by Japanese studio tri-Crescendo and published by Namco, is a JRPG with a difference. It takes you on the final journey of famed Polish classical pianist Frederic Chopin through his final dream when lying in his bed just before dying in his house in Paris in 1849. It won’t come as a surprise to learn that the design team behind this captivating game are all musicians. Hiroya Hatsushiba is an audio programmer who has worked with fellow tri-Crescendo founder Motoi Sakuraba, who is in fact a composer, on many other JRPG’s including the likes off Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile for parent studio tri-Ace.

Eternal Sonata is one of those rare and wonderful games completely based on musical history. Throughout the game you will hear wonderful music from the famed pianist that the game is based on. In addition, there are some original songs that round off an amazing soundtrack....

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All-Robbins program doesn't miss a step
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA

Another rave review for the Pacific Northwest Ballet production of two Chopin-based Jerome Robbins creations: "Into the Night, and "The Concert:"

One of the opening gambits of Peter Boal, as PNB artistic director, was "In the Night." It is among Robbins' most memorable ballets for its limpid moodiness and subtle shifts of tone. Three couples dance to Chopin's evanescent nocturnes, played with nuance by pianist Dianne Chilgren. The first is young and perfect; the second more formal and restrained, and the third restless and troubled. Pantastico and Olivier Wevers, who danced in the original cast, repeated their performances. They were a perfect realization of idealized love. The second couple, Ariana Lallone and Stanko Milov, were new to the roles, at least to me. They are a distinctive couple, and they offered distinctive dancing. The action of the third couple is realized more with the woman than the man. Nadeau, who danced in the original cast, was turbulent yet appealing. Karol Cruz was her able partner.

"The Concert" was given its PNB premiere at the fall gala. It was a sensation then and is so now. There is so much that is amusing or outright hilarious. It is supposed to be a parody of a concert, thus the name, but goes so far beyond those perimeters that one easily forgets the premise....

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All Robbins Showcases PNB's Acting Chops
Seattlest - Seattle,USA

Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Best Audio Book Of The Year
By M.J. Rose

Amazement at the Chopin Manuscript victory: "As one of our esteemed authors said - beating God and Harry Potter is one thing -- but beating Colbert? Now that's impressive."

The Chopin Manuscript is an original serialized thriller created exclusively for audio by a stellar list of thriller writers -- for a joint project between Audible.com and ITW - a project that Steve Feldber and I only imagined would ...
Buzz, Balls & Hype - http://mjroseblog.typepad.com/buzz_balls_hype/

The Chopin Currency - May 31st, 2008

Chopin News, Views, Reviews, and Previews:

"All Robbins" is all pleasure at PNB
Seattle Times - United States

The Jerome Robbins Chopin-dance fever juggurnaut rumbles on in Seattle, with acclaimed productions by Pacific Northwest Ballet of "The Concert" and "In The Night."

Making its PNB premiere, Robbins' 1956 comic work "The Concert" is set to sedate piano works by Chopin, played onstage by Dianne Chilgren and witnessed by a motley crowd in pale-blue leotards. The ballerina (a funny, loose Miranda Weese) practically embraces the piano in her joy, while a pair of hatted ladies (Lesley Rausch, Maria Chapman) cross their legs in exaggerated precision. A wife (Carrie Imler) scolds her cigar-chomping husband (Jonathan Porretta) — not noticing that his eye is on the ballerina.

And from these character vignettes, Robbins sweeps us into fantasy: a dimly lit umbrella dance that's both melancholy and lovely; a cast transformed into gossamer-winged butterflies, suddenly lighter and sillier than air. It's a wacky dream ballet, performed with airy precision, and the giggling opening-night audience rewarded it with a standing ovation.

"In the Night" is also set to Chopin (also played beautifully by Chilgren), but its velvet mood is a world away: three romantic pas de deux on a starry night. As the most tempestuous of the couples, Louise Nadeau and Karel Cruz were mesmerizing; though they initially seemed physically mismatched (he looks at least a foot taller than she), their shared recklessness and dramatic ardor cast a powerful spell. Ariana Lallone and Stanko Milov, arms reaching to the sky, brought regal strength to their more formal dance. Noelani Pantastico and Olivier Wevers, in their effortless lifts, personified youthful, sparkling love.


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Chopin Downloads of Apparent Legality:

Free Download of the Week: Chopin's Nocturne No. 1 in B Flat Minor ...
By Laura(Michael)

From the new site Musopen, boasting "copyright free classical music."

In the mood for a more melancholy tune? Take advantage of music in the public domain and download this beautiful piece by Chopin, courtesy of Musopen.com. Click to download Chopin's Nocturne No.1 in B Flat Minor, Op.9 ...

Fastcase - Accelerated Legal Research - http://fastcase.blogspot.com/

The Chopin Currency - May 24th, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

New Classical Tracks: The allure and the thrill of Chopin
Minnesota Public Radio - Saint Paul,MN,USA

Radio review of Gilmore Prize winner Ingrid Fliter's new CD...

The young Argentine musician Ingrid Fliter is one of the brightest rising stars in the piano world. The composer she's most identified with is Chopin, and his music is the focus of her latest disc.

For her part, Ingrid Fliter has just released a new solo recording featuring works by Chopin, a composer she believes she was born to play.

"It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that if it had not been for Chopin's music, I wouldn't have been born," she explained. "My mother noticed my father for the first time while he was playing some Chopin waltzes during a party!

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Ingrid Fliter replaces Anderszewski
Thenews.pl - Warsaw,Poland

Speaking of the Gilmore, one winner subs for another at the Barbican in London...

Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski was forced to cancel his appearance at London’s Barbican Centre tonight on the advice of his doctor. He is replaced by the Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, Second Prize winner at the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw in 2000. ...

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Royal Ballet Double Bill, Royal Opera House, London
Independent - London,England,UK

Rave review for the Royal Ballet revival of the Chopin-centric "Dances at a Gathering...."

Dances at a Gathering looks simple. Jerome Robbins' 1969 ballet puts 10 dancers on a bare stage, with a blue backdrop, set to Chopin piano pieces. The numbers are full of invention, yet they have to look easy. Robbins demands clean musicality and a sense of atmosphere. They're all there in this wonderfully fresh performance.

It's more than 30 years since the Royal Ballet put on Dances at a Gathering. People who saw it in its early years still go dreamy over it. The ballet's atmosphere is fragile. This revival, staged by Susan Hendl and Ben Huys, has real warmth....

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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Mostly having to do with fallout and feedback from the BBC's Chopin Experience:

The Chopin Experience
By vhk10
I listened to bits of this all-Chopin weekend on Radio 3. (I used to listen to and indeed play Chopin’s music a lot, and though it has retreated a bit in my musical consciousness he is still a favourite of mine). ...

The best aspect was hearing recordings from different eras and with different interpretations, rather than just good recent performances.

I recommend trying the Chopin Audio Quiz, which is not trivial, mainly because the extracts are from the middle of pieces.

VHK's singing - http://vhkssinging.wordpress.com

Bad to the bone
By Sawyl(Sawyl)
I like to think of Radio 3 as the rebel of the BBC family, hanging back while the others chase after listeners, growing its toenails and listening to Chopin. A classical music-fancying rebel; every family needs one. ...
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - http://sawyl.livejournal.com

The Chopin Currency - May 22nd, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Young Cuban Pianist Jorge Gonzalez Buajasan Awarded win the Prize ...
Cuba Headlines - Ciudad Habana,Habana,Cuba

Our first dispatch from the island's news agency....

Virtuous interpretations of "Nocturne" by Frederic Chopin and Concert Studies of Franz Liszt made possible for the young Cuban pianist Jorge Gonzalez Buajasan to win the Prize "Cle d Or" of Superior level in France.

Gonzalez Buajasan, only 13, performed this Sunday in "Les Cles d Or" (Gold Keys) piano contest in the superior category, in Ile de France region, carried out in the Parisian locality of Villemomble.

He played "Nocturne Opus 27", number two of Chopin and "A Sigh", from Concert Studies of Liszt, with meticulous elegance.

He is a very talented-boy and plays with exquisite loudness, although he should involve slow movements when playing "Un suspiro", members of the jury told the student of the Caribbean island when congratulating him for the prize obtained, Prensa Latina corroborated.

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Actions speak louder in dance story
This is London - London,England,UK

Jerome Robbins may say "no plot, no roles" in his hour-long "Dances At A Gathering," but critic nonetheless finds plenty of story lines in his Chopin-based dance...

The solos, duets and group dances that follow may be an evocation of his past or just dances, as Robbins said. Either way Chopin’s music, and Robbins’s gestures and steps, evoke people falling happily in and resignedly out of love. There are flirtations and friendship, and the comforts and misunderstandings of each. The style is polite — these are pretty steps and tidy tears — but in showing us what we long for, Robbins reveals all that we don’t have.

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The Kirov Ballet - Chopiniana/The Kingdom of Shades/Le Spectre de ...
Stage - London,England,UK

More Chopin on the dance stage in the UK...

The second splendid programme, presented by the Kirov, is an excellent example of the diversity of this prestigious company. Chopiniana, with Fokine’s classical choreography set to Chopin’s music, is a superb showcase for the superior corps de ballet, which danced with precision timing but retained the important lyrical feel. Principals Anastasia Kolegova and Evgeny Ivanchenko also made a mark.

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The Chopin Currency - May 18th, 2008

Chopin News, Views, Reviews, & Previews:

'Carmen' reincarnated
Jerusalem Post - Israel

Russian-Israeli choreographer (and Kirov vet) Valery Panov's dance company offers a twin-bill of Carmen and Chopin in Tel Aviv...

Les Sylphides, set to the music of Chopin by Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine in 1908, is a Romantic, dreamlike piece, featuring 20 women and one man. For ballet enthusiasts, this will be a dream come true, as the male role is performed by Panov's electrifying principal dancer Valery Kuklachov.

The May 18 performance will be attended by several dignitaries, Panov adds proudly. Among the invited guests are the ambassadors of the US, Lithuania, Germany and Belgium.

Another source of pride for Panov is the financial support he is receiving from the Ministry of Culture. "My dance company is growing like the cosmos," he says.

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The Chopin Currency - April 14, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

"Dear Frederic" - Complexions Contemporary Ballet
calendarlive.com - Los Angeles,CA,USA

Review of "vibrant Chopin" as part of a "sensational seven-part program," which opens with a brief primer on the Chopin dance oeuvre...

Chopin never wrote a ballet. But that hasn't stopped choreographers from mining his music. Fokine created "Chopiniana" in 1894 and revised it in 1908, and it appeared in that enduring form under a new title, "Les Sylphides," when Diaghilev introduced it to the West in 1909.

Ashton created the heartbreaking "A Month in the Country" in 1976. Robbins couldn't keep away either. Count four Robbins ballets set to his music: "The Concert" (1956), "Dances at a Gathering" (1969), "In the Night" (1970) and "Other Dances" (1974). The last three are classics.

Against such luminaries, choreographing another Chopin ballet may seem an almost reckless act. But what Dwight Rhoden, co-founder of Complexions Contemporary Ballet,

Rhoden's Chopin is no pale, terminally ill Romantic languishing in Paris salons. He's a successor to Bach and an inheritor of Baroque drive.

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Gilmore artist update: Ingrid Fliter racks up rave reviews
Kalamazoo Gazette - MLive.com - Kalamazoo,MI,USA

Regular readers to Chopin2010 will recognize some of the quotes here...

In the 11 months since she last visited Kalamazoo, 2006 Gilmore Artist Ingrid Fliter has continued to tour the world -- and continued to rack up the kind of reviews most pianists would kill for.

"(H)ow adequately to praise Thursday's performance of the Chopin F minor Piano Concerto, with Argentinian pianist Ingrid Fliter?" asked Dallas Morning News music critic Scott Cantrell in a review of Fliter's appearance with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in February. "I can't think of another performance so compellingly personalized since the glorious 1935 recording by Alfred Cortot and John Barbirolli.

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