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 20th, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

A Country in the Moon, by Michael Moran
Independent - London,England,UK

Review declares Michael Moran's new book about Poland to be an "absorbing, exasperating and ultimately rewarding travelogue."

Moran emerges from these pages as a romantic, a bon viveur, a music lover and a film buff, equally versed in the polonaises of Chopin, the novels of Joseph Conrad and the movies of Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Kieslowski. He conducts a clandestine affair with unhappily married Zosia, and together they explore the historic cities of her country. His sojourn comes to a premature end when the project's rackety finances expire. The last chapters briskly fast-forward up to the death of Pope John Paul II. As for his romance with Zosia, reader, I wouldn't dream of giving the game away.

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Chopin master returns to Barboursville
Orange County Review - Orange,VA,USA

Somewhat confusing review of young Polish pianist Jacek Kortus' performance in Virginia Wine Country....

Kortus’ return engagement was the fourth in a series of benefit concerts for the Chopin Foundation. This year’s event was hosted by Barboursville Winery and sponsored again by Premier Virginia Properties. As a special treat, Washington National Opera Conductor Maestro Giovanni Reggioli introduced Kortus and the Chopin pieces he would perform in the first half of Thursday’s concert. [...]

Joking aside, the maestro described Chopin as “good music of the people” and said the composer’s works were “good for the first-time person or for the person who studies it for life.”

Kortus, a serious and intense young man of supreme focus, opened the program with Frederic Chopin’s Nocturne in C Minor Op. 48, No. 1. He followed with Waltz in A Flat Major Op. 34, No. 1 that conjured images of a gilded 19th century ballroom full of lords and ladies that finished with such an uplifting flourish everyone in the audience was smiling.

The third selection was Mazurkas in B Flat Major Op. 18, No. 1 and No. 4 in A Minor which began rather chillingly sad only to finish with an offer of hope. In his last selection before the intermission, he performed Chopin’s Sonata in B Flat Minor, Op. 35 where he balanced the emotion of the piece with his technical skill in moments both fiercely fast and smoothly slow. At times the piece sounded otherworldly with such vibrations it seemed the piano might simply explode from the music.

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The Chopin Currency - May 16th, 2008

Chopin Videos:

The Film - "None of Us Are Free"

How "current" is Chopin? Look no further for powerful testimony than from this current PSA produced on commission from MTV networks to raise awareness for disaster relief in Myanmar (a/k/a Burma). First, watch the film, which uses Chopin's music (beginning with the Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1) to compelling effect:





















Now, some details as to how Fryderyk C's music got involved, courtesy of motiongrapher.com:

When and how the music was incorporated?
The music played a huge role in setting the tone and pacing of the piece. We knew that it would be huge in setting the right mood so it had to be perfect. We listened to a lot of tracks when we were cutting the first previz [sic] edits and when we heard Chopin’s nocturnes, we knew we found the right music. It had all the right elements, movement, and form. [Ed. note: - it's actually one nocturne and the Fantaisie-Impromptu.]

Dante Nou who was working in—house with us took the two pieces we had roughly cut together and started tweaking them. Nate, our editor had some ideas about cadence and drawing out notes and keys and we just started fucking with it. By the time we finished the edit, the music had developed equally—it was then the foundation of what we took to Good Sounds. They replayed the original pieces and put their own loveliness in the mix—more sound design and tweaking, and by the time we finished the picture the music had finished as well.

There's more about the "making of" the PSA on Gossipfeast.com as well, quoting from the MTV Press Release: "With the powerful melody from the feted virtuoso pianist Chopin, viewers will watch the beautiful red flowers float and dance towards Burmese soil."

The Chopin Currency: April 22, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Pianist Born to the Colors of Chopin
New York Times - United States

Veteran New York Times critic Bernard Holland isn't thrilled about Ingrid Fliter's Beethoven and Schubert, but is charmed by her Chopin:

The Ingrid Fliter who appeared after intermission was a different person. She was born to play Chopin, and she knows it. The colors are many and subtle, the range of loud to soft is unusually various, and she has the sensibility for Chopin’s graceful, linear give-and-take. The pieces were the Nocturne in B and the B minor Piano Sonata. The Met Museum’s audience liked both very much.

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Cliburn Gold Medal winner's performance "impeccable"
Montgomery Advertiser - Montgomery,AL,USA

Meanwhile, a Montgomery (Alabama) critic finds the Beethoven and Chopin performances by Van Cliburn Competition winner Alex Kobrin to be indistinguishable, which is a good thing...

Six Chopin pieces followed – the heroic G minor “Ballade” to start this section, the dramatic F minor “Ballade” to end it, and in between four “Impromptus,” the last of which was the familiar “Fantasie-Impromptu” best known for its lyrical second theme.

For a gold medal winner, there is no need to comment on technique. It was impeccable as expected. But what distinguished this pianist was his thoughtful approach to every phrase. In the most cerebral, expressive phrases he slowed the tempo but never lost the intensity of those phrases and found significance in each note. He saved speed for the most impassioned sections.

His program showed a special affinity for the Romantics, drawing flowing melodies and dramatic climaxes from both Beethoven and Chopin. Both composers had much the same style in Kobrin’s playing.

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Phuong Nam to release 13 albums by pianist Dang Thai Son
VietNamNet Bridge - Hanoi,Vietnam

Vietnamese press agency announces the release of the biography and a baker's dozen of recordings by Vietnamese favorite-son pianist, (winner of the 1980 Chopin Competition) as he prepares to return to his hometown of Ho Chi Minh City...

Victor Entertainment permitted Vietnam’s Phuong Nam Film to release this collection. These are high-quality products which bring listeners poetic melodies by Tchaikovsky and romantic rhythms by Mendelssohn, Liszt, the sophistication of Ravel, and especially, immortal melodies by Chopin, whose music works account for around nine of the 13 CDs.

For the first time, the book “A pianist loved by Chopin – the Dang Thai Son story”, published by Yahama Music Media Corporation in Japan in 2003, will be published in Vietnam. The book’s author is Japanese journalist Ikuma Yoshiko, who loves the Vietnamese pianist’s music.

Dang Thai Son is the first Asian artist to win first prize at the Concours Chopin and the pianist holds the highest number of sub-prizes in the history of this music award. American pianist Isaac Stern (1920-2001), who received a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 1987, said Dang Thai Son is a musical genius.

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Richard Goode's Gilmore Festival Prelude recital worth the wait ...
Kalamazoo Gazette - MLive.com - Kalamazoo,MI,USA

Goode plays great Chopin (among other things) at the Gilmore....

Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1, was first of several Chopin works. Goode's playing here showed superlative use of dynamics and miraculous control of octave runs. Of four Chopin Mazurkas performed, the E Minor, Op. 41, No. 2, most engaged the large audience by virtue of an ingratiating mellow effect. [...]

Three final Chopin pieces ended the program. Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54, was my favorite. Goode invested drama in a work that featured a steady thematic line surrounded by bustling musical ornaments. Goode's quick hands gloriously executed chromatic runs and challenging arpeggios. The other pieces, fine overall, were blemished by Goode's stomping foot. The encore -- what else?: another Chopin "bijou."

Goode's greatest strength was a consummate ability to convey beautiful musical sense, without injecting a performer's egoistic detractions.

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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Cultured Tangos
Blogcritics.org - Aurora,OH,USA

Yesterday it was Enrique Granados being called "The Brazilian Chopin." Today a Blogcritics magazine writer likens Chopin to Argentinian tango-master Astor Piazzolla...

It may be that in musical retrospect, from a luxury of twenty-twenty critical hindsight, that Astor Piazzolla will be seen as having done in the twentieth century for the tango what Frederick Chopin did in the nineteenth for the waltz. It is perhaps already an accepted position. With the waltz, Chopin took an established popular form and stretched its boundaries so that what an audience might have expected to be a little ditty was recast to express heroism, sensuality, pride, or even occasional doubt. The little dance tune then, in Chopin's slender hands, became an elegant art form, highly expressive, utterly Romantic in its ability to convey human emotion....

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Fun With Chopin

The planned Chopin marathon on BBC Radio 3 prompts a Brit blogger's musings on Chopiniana...

I ask him if he’s seen the romantic comedy Impromptu, starring a pre-Richard Curtis Hugh Grant as the consumptive composer:

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0102103/

It’s one of my favourite movies that people haven’t heard of. The director is James Lapine, better known for the original stagings of Sondheim musicals like Sunday In The Park With George and Into The Woods, and it has the same sense of anachronistic wit in a period setting, not least Judy Davis’s constant exclamation of ‘Balls!’

In fact, it ties in with my theme of the other day - a romance between a butch woman (Ms Davis as the cross-dressing novelist George Sand) and a fragile, stuttering man with floppy hair (guess who). Add Emma Thompson as a dim aristocrat, and Mandy Patinkin in funny, swaggering Princess Bride mode, and it’s something of a gem. How much of the Chopin history is correct I have no idea, but I’d say the film could be compared with Moulin Rouge and the BBC version of Casanova (the one with David Tennant), in eschewing period accuracy in favour of unabashed fun.

Diary at the Centre of the Earth - http://dickonedwards.co.uk/diary

The Chopin Currency - April 17, 2008

Chopin/Radiohead update:

The "Matchup" of a Chopin prelude with Radiohead's Exit Music for a Film is getting noticed all over the blogosphere (see the Chopin Currency for April 15), prompting this comment from ThisIsNotALabel Computer Music Blog :

This video is a terrific example of why current US copyright laws are industry-favoring pieces of trash that don't give creative people enough leeway to create. This artist could never make a dime off this piece in the US, without Radiohead's agreement. Personally, I think that's wrong. I think that artists should be encouraged both to create and to RE-create. This amalgam of Radiohead and Chopin is beautiful, and we should be encouraging musicians to find ways like this to reuse and reinvigorate the works of the past.

Other citations:

Radiohead/Chopin Matchup
By buck19
Effing Brilliant!!!!!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X-PR...chopin_matchup And one of his own written songs. YouTube - Jack Conte - Operation.
Tampa Forums - http://www.tampaforums.com/forums

VideoSong 4 - Radiohead/Chopin Matchup
By DICE
1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice). 2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds). Radiohead's Exit Music for a Film matched with a prelude by Chopin, Op. 28, no. 4 ...
YETANOTHERMUSICWEBLOG - http://www.yetanothermusicweblog.com/

Chopin/Radiohead Mashup!
By rekcehcsopa
Has everybody seen this? http://youtube.com/watch?v=0X-PRpqj7N4 :jonny2: approves.
Mortigi Tempo - Radiohead Message Board - http://www.mortigitempo.com/too_bored

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

All over again
The Phoenix - Boston,MA,USA

Playing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Kissin has dazzle if not depth, and puzzles with his choice of encores...

At the opening concert on April 8, however, the symphony plodded, and though Kissin played the late B-flat concerto, No. 2, with phenomenal dexterity and large-scale grandeur, he seemed to have no clue about the reflective and searching nature of the music. The piece sounded like Rachmaninov. The Andante is one of the glories of Brahms. It opens with a great cello solo, which Jules Eskin played with ravishing and glowing warmth. But in this most emotionally and intellectually but least technically challenging section of the concerto, Kissin merely hit all the notes. Still, he wowed the audience, and after being called back repeatedly, he played Chopin’s charming “Minute” Waltz (though with only the barest hint of charm). Did it matter that Chopin had no connection with the rest of the program? At least on the following night, I was told, one of his two encores was a Brahms waltz (along with a Chopin scherzo).


[...]

...the early D-minor concerto, No. 1, with which Brahms struggled so hard (should it be a piano piece, and if so, for how many pianos? should it be a symphony?), with its even greater bravura and fewer demands for “interpretation,” was more up Kissin’s alley.... His encores were more Chopin — both in C-sharp minor: the ambitious Scherzo (with its solemn chords and feathery descent of heavenly snowflakes played with so much emphasis on texture and color, it sounded more like Liszt) and the famous little Waltz (which had so little ¾-time “lift,” it sounded more like a nocturne).

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Emerging star keeps hitting the right notes
Fort Worth Star Telegram - Fort Worth,TX,USA

After the big-build up in Fort Worth (see the Chopin Currency for April 16th) Ingrid Fliter does not disappoint...

Her program began with the Impromptus Nos. 1 and 2 by Schubert. It was capped by Chopin -- his Nocturne in B major, Sonata No. 3 and, for her first encore piece, the Grand Valse Brilliante. Her style and approach seemed more natural on the Chopin and showcased her wonderful lyrical phrasing and a singing, golden tone. Her fine control of fingers and pedals created melodies chiseled in silver against an airy rainbow of lingering sound.

Fliter's playing sent thrills through the audience gathered under the Kimbell's vaulted ceiling. It heralded the emergence of a major piano star.

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Pianist André Laplante delivers grand recital
Barre Montpelier Times Argus - Barre,VT,USA

Canadian pianist plays South of the Border to great acclaim....

Laplante, one of Canada's great pianists, is first and foremost a romantic pianist in that he imbues a lot of personal emotion in his work. But unlike many romantic pianists, he is rhythmically disciplined and has great reverence for the composer's score as is the focus of more classical pianist.

Laplante's freely lyrical melody line, the hallmark of a romantic pianist, shone most in works of Chopin. The major work of the program was Chopin's Sonata in B-flat minor, Opus 35, a big, powerful work that runs the gamut of emotions, from unbridled passion in the first and second movements to the delicate tenderness of the third movement – dubbed "Funeral Match" – to the rapid and turgid finale. Throughout, though, Laplante projected the structure as well as the deep emotions of the work. Much the same could be said Chopin's Sonata in f minor, Opus 49....

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The Chopin Currency - April 10, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Gach plans all-Chopin recital at Escondido arts center
North County Times - Escondido,CA,USA

Palomar College pianist Peter Gach prepares for his annual appearance....

Gach has had a lifelong love affair with the music of Chopin, and he loves any opportunity to share it with an audience.

Gach first discovered Chopin's music as a boy, when he found some Chopin scores while sifting through a box of sheet music at his parents' farm in Pennsylvania.

"I grew up in the country. We weren't a musical family, but just by chance this box fell into my lap," Gach said of the experience a few years ago. "It was like a magic box of wonders. I read it like a kid would attack a box of chocolates. It introduced me to a whole new world."

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TIME OUT WITH ... Hayley Kelly
St. Helena Star - St. Helena,CA,USA

Star high school athlete in Montana reveals her dream meeting....

Kelly: I think I would want to meet Mozart or Chopin because I play piano and those are my two favorite composers. They were both insanely gifted, ...

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Chopin Videos (sort of)

Chopin - Nocturne in e Flat
By the undomiciled sophisticate(the undomiciled sophisticate)

Classic recording of the Nocturne in E-flat (Op. 9 No. 2) in a violin-and-piano arrangement featuring Mischa Elman...

Played here by Mischa Elman. I have a flac version of this song that is much better, but its 40 megs, for a 4 minute song. Plus i don't think blogger will play lossless formats as such. This is a pretty good surrogate though. ...
The Undomiciled Sophisticate - http://undomiciled.blogspot.com/

Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Enjoying Chopin
By James(James)

Cheers for Chopin from a blog that promises "a forum for the discussion of relevant issues pertaining to society. Influenced by the teachings of Vatican II and inspired by the life of Pope John Paul II, we seek to engage every positive aspect of our culture (politics, current events, the arts, science, etc.) with the goal of infusing them with an authentic Christian humanism..."

I've been listening quite a bit to the works of the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. It's hard not to fall in love with his genius. His music for the piano is romantic and passionate yet ordered and elegant, uplifting and airy while not void of a certain melancholy.

The Forum - http://catholicpublius.blogspot.com/

The Chopin Currency: March 30, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Rachmaninoff fails to fill the hall
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA

Not "news," but an interesting time capsule from February 1925:

Maybe folks went to the literature club’s discussion of “Modern English Novels” or possibly the talk at the Tucson Fine Arts meeting on “Artists of the Nineteenth Century,” but for some reason, on February 2, 1925, when Rachmaninoff performed in Tucson, he did not fill the auditorium. [...]

The Saturday Morning Musical Club was responsible for bringing many well-known artists to Tucson. They brought Rachmaninoff here as a special attraction. Tickets for the event were $1.50, 2.00 and 2.50. Season ticket holders received special rates.

The composer chose selections from Schuman, Liszt and Chopin, in addition to several of his own works. He played with only one brief intermission.

“Rachmaninoff was the quiet, reserved master of his instrument. Not for him the physical accompaniment of his forte passages with the sway of head or body, other than that wrought by flying arms, nor any eye-closed dreamy posture, for such dainty bits as Chopin’s “Ballade” offered.”

According to the reviewer, his playing of “Ballade” “may be likened only to delicate lace, the melody coming from beneath his fingers with magic ease, making a sweetly appealing selection, thrice applauded.”

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Pianist Ralph Votapek instills sweep and grandeur at Brock Hall ...
The Birmingham News - al.com - Birmingham,AL,USA

Ralph Votapek, the very first Van Cliburn Competition winner, wows 'em in Alabam...

He rendered Chopin's Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1, with sweep and grandeur. The "Tarantelle," Op. 45, was pure energy. The Chopin set converged in the perfect sturm und drang of the Ballade in F minor, Op. 52. Cascading chromatic scales were fluid, quick and flawless. With a masterful touch, Votapek shaped this work with countless gradations of dynamics while instilling it with Lisztian fervor.

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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Chopin: Favorite Piano Works
By admin0

From a used-vinyl and CD site, a nod to a 1996 compilation by Vladimir Ashkenazy:

This is a masterful performance by the great Vladimir Ashkenazy of Chopin’s favourite piano works. If you love Chopin’s music and Ashkenazy’s magic touch, this 2-disc CD is a must.
Seek & Buy Audio CD - http://vinylrecords.890m.com/wordpress

Misc. Chopiniana:

The Chopin Hotel HDR
By nobody@flickr.com (David Giral)

Nice arty image of the Hotel Chopin in Paris, posted on flickr.com:

Photos from David Giral - http://www.flickr.com/photos/thepretender/

The Chopin Currency - March 18th, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Belbin, Agosto taking a classical approach
Boston Globe - United States

Chopin turns out to be the missing ingredient in the ice-dancing tandem's Quest for Gold....

[Tanith] Belbin and [Ben] Agosto are the most successful dance team the US has had, and the Olympic silver medalists seem to break new ground every season. But when coach Igor Shpilband suggested they consider a classical piece for this year's free dance, they worried it might be too much of a stretch.

They turned down some Bach he suggested. When he came back with Chopin, though, they agreed to try it, and the flowing, romantic program has turned out to be the perfect showcase for their skills. It highlights their chemistry, expression, and speed, their traditional strengths. But it has also allowed them to show a maturity and depth of emotion they didn't have three or four years ago.

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Prince of the piano worthy of crown
Albany Times Union - Albany,NY,USA

Hey! It's another Yundi Li review!

"The 25-year-old piano prince then caught the audience's attention with his Chopin: four of the Mazurkas, followed by the well-known Nocturne in E flat and "Andante Spianato" and "Grande Polonaise." The Mazurkas are more relaxed and reflective pieces and quickly showed Yundi is more than a technically proficient virtuoso. He was particularly effective in the fourth number, which recalls the work of Robert Schumann, a friend of the composer."

The young Chinese musician won the International Chopin Competition some years ago, and has made four recordings for the prestigious Deutsche Gramophon ...
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Lang Lang delights, confounds with his individualism
Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia,PA,USA

Hey! It's another Lang Lang review!

Sure, his recital of Schubert, Bartók, Debussy and Chopin was full of strangely mannered playing. But there's a trade-off: His ideas, all his own, are convincingly expressed...

....Here, on this night, marginalization of classical music was a specious myth. After a particularly convulsive and artless reading of Chopin's Polonaise in A flat major (Op. 53), "Heroic," an audience of seniors, teens, hipsters, nerds, 20ish Asian girls, aficionados, newbies, and a surprising number of 6- to 9-year-olds jumped to their feet. Whistles and cheers. Flowers. Flashbulbs.

Who else on the classical stage can claim as close a connection with as diverse a public? Right now, maybe no one.
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Chopin Videos:

Artur Rubinstein Plays Chopin Polonaise “Heroic”
By admin
Lovely excerpt from the 1947 movie Carnegie Hall. Great close-ups of Rubinstein's fingers in action, though the music is quite obviously dubbed...


From picture “Carnegie Hall”. ShareThis.
Next VDO - http://nextvdo.com/







Literary Chopin:

♯Six
By Frederic Francois Chopin(Frederic Francois Chopin)

Another installment from the pianopoet...

[Private//Easily Hackable] I have been thinking about that world again....The world I once called just a passing dream. Traveling in that world, I faded faster than it. It was mostly due to my physical state more so than my mental state ...
The piano is his way of life - http://pianopoet.livejournal.com/

The Chopin Currency - March 12, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Method & madness: The oddities of the virtuosi
Independent - London,England,UK

This just in: A lot of great pianists of the ages have been more than a little crackers. A dissection on the eccentricities and downright madness of Shura Cherkassy, Glenn Gould, Artur Benedetto Michalangeli, Vladimir Horowitz, and a host of lesser knows, including...

Some pianists based brilliant careers on seeming mad, when they weren't, the most notable being the diminutive Viennese "pianissimist" Vladimir de Pachmann, aka "the Chopinzee", whose antics prompted George Bernard Shaw to write of his "pantomimic performance, with accompaniments by Chopin"

Yet his Chopin and Schumann had such panache that dozens of live recordings have been issued since his death. I regret never having heard Arturo Benedetti ...
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Nanowires prefer Deep Purple
ABC Science Online - Australia'

In the brand-new world of silicon nanowires, Chopin lags behind Deep Purple in promoting their growth - though it seems there are "kinks" to work out....

Parlevliet tested the effect of Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water', Chopin's 'Nocturne Opus 9 No 1', Josh Abrahams' 'Addicted to Bass', Rammstein's 'Das ...
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WEST SIDE STORY SUITE – Standing Ovation for San Francisco Ballet ...
SanFranciscoSentinel.com - San Francisco,CA,USA

Account of San Francisco Ballet program currently in production that includes Jerome Robbins' "In the Night," danced to a recording of three Chopin Nocturnes by Artur Rubinstein...(Opus 9 No. 2, Opus 27 No. 1, Opus 55, No. 1 and No. 2.)

The evening includes three separate works featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein and Frédéric Chopin. 2008 marks the 90th birthdays of Bernstein and ...
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"Her Name Is Sabine,"
IFC - USA

Review of new indy film by French actress Sandrine Bonnaire "making a patient, respectful, thoroughly unnarcissistic documentary about her own handicapped sister, and stumping for policy change as she considers painful mysteries about family and the passage of time in the process. "Her Name Is Sabine" (2007) is a simple, unpretentious piece of work..."

... teen and young adult, she was different, "off," but lucid, literate, energetic and capable of playing Chopin. She went without diagnosis for decades. ...
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The Chopin Currency - March 9, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Pianist Alfred Brendel to give his final Chicago performance

Chicago Tribune - United States

On his farewell tour of the USA, pianist Alfred Brendel is not in the mood to second-guess his repertory choices over the years:

At the same time he makes no apologies for avoiding the piano works of Chopin, believing that he could never surpass what the legendary French pianist Alfred Cortot achieved in his Chopin performances and recordings from the late 1920s and early '30s. The only major piano piece Brendel regrets never having performed is Bach's "Goldberg" Variations.

He takes a somewhat jaundiced view of the present generation of pianists, finding fault with many of them for what he believes is their rather cavalier disregard of the composers' intentions as stated on the printed page. "I still would like to hear a decent performance of a Mozart or a Beethoven concerto from one of them," he says dryly.

At the same time he makes no apologies for avoiding the piano works of Chopin, believing that he could never surpass what the legendary French pianist ...
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Yundi Li Recital in La Jolla
SanDiego.com - San Diego,CA,USA

Another mixed review for the young Chinese pianist and Chopin Competition winner, this time from a San Diego critic who finds his performance uneven and puzzling...

At age 25 he has earned his celebrity, but during the first half of his oddly mannered Friday recital at Sherwood Auditorium, La Jolla, the young Chinese virtuoso seemed to be asking the Peggy Lee question, “Is That All There Is?”His bouquet of Mozart and Chopin—staples of his repertory—seemed a bit withered....

...Another disappointment was the familiar Chopin E-flat Major Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2, which Li made overly cautious and precise, a teacherly example for a slow student. That Chopin staple, the "Andante spinato et Grande Polonaise Brillante," Op. 22, rushed past the listener full throttle, but without much interpretive comment. "Here it is; take it or leave it," seemed to be the performer's message.

There were a few moments, however, when Li’s creative musical personality burst through this ennui. The opening and closing minor-mode mazurkas of “Four Mazurkas,” Op. 33, sounded as if they were being improvised on the spot, with impetuous verve and a vibrant sense of pulse.

At age 18, he won first prize at the 14 th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Poland, and the following year launched a spate of CD recordings with ...
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Chopin in the Blogosphere

I'm not a big fan... of Chopin
By Nick(Nick)

Blogging violist from Boise State is not impressed by Chopin's creations...

I went to see a fantastic doctoral recital (by some Arizona Post-Grad, BSU doesn't have a Doc program) programmed entirely of Chopin works. I was slightly apprehensive, as I've never taken a deep liking to Chopin, but I went anyway, ...
- http://bsuviolist.blogspot.com/

Evolution of Classical Music - Bach to Chopin
By katyzzz(katyzzz)

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click here for the link to this video.
katyzzzplace.com - http://katyzzzplace.blogspot.com/

The Chopin Currency - March 8, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Music and 'the Man'

In-depth profile of pianist Byron Janis, who describes his affinity for Chopin:

But it was a Polish composer who may have had the greatest influence: Chopin was always a favorite, and Janis returned the favor, credited with discovering two once-lost Chopin waltzes, a find called "the most dramatic musical discovery of our age."

At 80, Janis reflects: "It was a defining moment of my life; I felt like I was being led to them."

He has taken the lead since that 1967 discovery of the 1832 waltz works, which Chopin had written "for a lady friend; how he loved the women."
Jewish Exponent - Philadelphia,PA,USA
And Chopin has touched his lively life in many ways. The McKeesport, Pa., kid of Russian-Jewish heritage who was born Byron Yanks is a Yankee Doodle Dandy ...
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Two-Part Tribute to Byron Janis Begins March 8

More on Byron Janis....

Playbill.com - New York,NY,USA
At 6 PM March 10, "An Evening of Song with Pianist as Composer with a Touch of Chopin" will be offered. The concert will feature a host of theatre ...
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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Room for improvement

Fascinating discussion on a music-instruction blogsite using a Chopin Etude to illustrate the teaching of harmony...

By Alan Coady
It’s of Chopin’s Etude Op 10 No 1. There are more professional performances of this on YouTube but many are so fast that it’s difficult to hear the detail. This one, although not entirely error-free does have a certain tenderness about ...
Alan Coady's Musical Blog - http://edubuzz.org/blogs/alancoady

Chopin
By That Canadian Guy(That Canadian Guy)
So apparently there is a videogame based loosely on Chopin's life. It's called 'Eternal Sonata'. Chopin is actually a playable character, and his music is found throughout. The character looks like Chopin as well. ...
Life, Love, and Everything In Between - http://madman-ramblings.blogspot.com/

Chopin in the Videosphere:

YouTube - Yundi Li plays Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2

Ignore the incorrectly-embedded title of it being "Op. 66"



Yundi Plays Chopin! ... Related Videos. Maurizio Pollini plays Chopin Nocturne no. 8 op. 27 no. 2. 04:43 From: joynes89. Views: 366648 ...

The Chopin Currency - March 6, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:

Live: Yundi Li

The budding Chinese superstar plays Orange County, but leaves the LA Times reviewer cold: "A set of four Chopin mazurkas, Nos. 22 through 25, played without break, showed little elasticity in phrasing, rhythmic rubato or architectural contrast. Again, slower pieces such as the C-major Mazurka (No. 24) or Chopin's Nocturne in E flat, which followed the set, revealed a far more interesting poet of the keyboard..."

Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
But almost everything on the program, be it Mozart, Chopin, Schumann or Mussorgsky, turned out to be mainly a vehicle for keyboard-slamming, ...
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Pianist Yundi Li makes it quick in Costa Mesa

Yes, he's a young pianist in a hurry, ripostes the OC Register, but that's not necessarily a bad thing: "Li, the youngest winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition, is an astonishing pianist. Tuesday, he revealed the chops of a true virtuoso and the brains of an intellectual. There seemed little that escaped his notice in pieces by Mozart, Chopin, Schumann and Mussorgsky. But he never gilded the lily. Unlike Lang Lang, he showed himself to be remarkably free from virtuoso mannerisms, too, both physically and musically. If he was in a rush, he also took care of business along the way.

"So, too, in the Mazurkas, Op. 33, and the Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2, did clarity of texture rule the day. He made phrases cogent and harmonic shifts logical rather than mystical. Everything made sense, beautifully. You may have wanted him to stop occasionally and smell the roses, but he actually managed to do that in transit. A listener had to keep pace.

"In Schumann's "Widmung" (as arranged by Liszt) and Chopin's Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise he gave the first indications of his roaring abilities, but he remained crisp, never vulgar."

OCRegister - Santa Ana,CA,USA
Even Chopin nocturnes. Even slow movements. Even rests. Too fast? Maybe, maybe not. In classical music, we often tend to want our performers to sound old ...
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Child prodigy to perform at Stanley Hotel

9-year old Helen Nebeker to play at the Estes Park Music Festival Winter Series on March 9, and Chopin is on the program...

Estes Park Trail Gazette - Estes Park,CO,USA
Some of Nebeker’s awards since she began competing a few years ago at the age of five have included First Place wins at: the International Chopin ...
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LETTER FROM POLAND: Chopin The Warsaw Boy

A hometown perspective on Chopin's early years, courtesy of Polish Radio:

"Poland has always had a bit of a problem with the fact that the majority of the world thinks that Chopin was French. Many people don’t realise that the world’s greatest pianist was a Pole (a Varsovian, to be precise), which is crucial to understanding his work. It is here, in and around the Old town of Warsaw, that the musical genius grew up, went to school, composed his first pieces, gave his first concerts and soaked up his first inspirations."

Polish Radio External Service - Poland
We take a look at the little-known facts about Chopin in his early years. The 1st March marked the 198th birthday of probably the most famous Pole in the ...
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Rooster Struts Opens March With Preludes By Chopin And Soldiers' Mass

Toronto-based National Ballet of Canada puts Chopin on the program with the Rolling Stones and Bohuslav Martinu..."

Renowned Quebec choreographer Marie Chouinard makes her debut with The National Ballet of Canada with her celebrated 1999 work 24 Preludes by Chopin. Ms. Chouinard is one of contemporary dance's most exciting internationally acclaimed artists, renowned for her passionate, groundbreaking choreography.

Set to Frederic Chopin's famous piano Preludes, this short work reflects the structure of the Preludes themselves, evoking such emotions as chastity, passion, introspection, ardour and rebellion, all articulated in Ms. Chouinard's strikingly contemporary dance style."

HULIQ - Hickory,NC,USA
Renowned Quebec choreographer Marie Chouinard makes her debut with The National Ballet of Canada with her celebrated 1999 work 24 Preludes by Chopin. ...
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What can a non-musician learn from a master class in piano?

University of Minnesota piano professor Alexander Braginsky leads a master class in Minnesota; a non-playing columnist learns some important lesssons....

Twin Cities Planet - Minneapolis,Minnesota,USA
He asked; “What emotion do you feel this Chopin Nocturne is communicating? “ For half an hour they went back and forth on their pianos, searching for the ...
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