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Track(s) taken from CDA67371/2

Nocturne in B flat minor, Op 9 No 1

composer
1830/1; published in 1832; dedicated to Camille Pleyel

Angela Hewitt (piano)
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Recording details: November 2003
Reitstadel, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Germany
Produced by Ludger Böckenhoff
Engineered by Ludger Böckenhoff
Release date: November 2004
Total duration: 5 minutes 59 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Garrick Ohlsson (piano)
Stephen Hough (piano)
Lívia Rév (piano)

Reviews

‘In a catalogue boasting many distinguished Chopin Nocturne cycles, Angela Hewitt's commands attention’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘One of the most elegant pianists around, the Canadian virtuoso Angela Hewitt interrupts her epic Bach and Couperin cycles for Hyperion to explore some of Chopin's most refined music, the complete Nocturnes and Impromptus. Hewitt's innate sophistication and delicacy of touch are perfectly suited to these exquisite pieces, 25 of them over two discs, by a master of the genre at the height of his fragile powers. Spanning almost his entire creative life, the Nocturnes amount to a remarkable graph of Chopin's emotional maturity, touchingly reflected in the affectionate care Hewitt brings to what sounds like a labour of love’ (The Observer)

‘Hewitt is not given to grand effects, whether an extreme rubato or rude dynamic change. Still, she can play grandly as well, as we hear on her powerful performance of the great Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor. This new recording of the nocturnes is what Marlon Brando would have called, if he had cared, a contender. It's richly recorded and beautifully played: it has art's final seal’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Angela Hewitt is a sound buy … the delicacy of touch and manicured precision of the phrasing is a delight’ (The Scotsman)
The Nocturne in B flat minor is sombre and plaintive, though Chopin ends the piece in major mode. The middle section is the most original: a melody presented in octaves with startling and rapid changes of harmony. It builds up to a pedal point (shadows of Bach) where for sixteen bars the harmony stays in D flat major, then chromatically returns to the tonic key. Sonority is of crucial importance here.

from notes by Angela Hewitt © 2004

Le Nocturne en si bémol mineur, est sombre et plaintif, quoique terminé en majeur. Sa section centrale, la plus originale, est une mélodie présentée en octaves avec de saisissants et rapides changements d’harmonie, qui se développe jusqu’à une pédale (l’ombre de Bach plane) où, pendant seize mesures, l’harmonie reste en ré bémol majeur, avant un retour chromatique à la tonique. La sonorité est, ici, cruciale.

extrait des notes rédigées par Angela Hewitt © 2004
Français: Hypérion

Das Nocturne in b-Moll ist düster und klagend angelegt, obwohl es in Dur endet. Der Mittelteil ist besonders originell: es handelt sich hier um eine Melodie, die in Oktaven dargestellt wird und in der schnelle Harmoniewechsel vorkommen. Das Ganze steigert sich zu einem Orgelpunkt (der Einfluss Bachs), wo die Harmonie 16 Takte lang in Des-Dur verweilt und dann chromatisch zur Tonika zurückkehrt. Klangfülle ist hier von besonderer Wichtigkeit.

aus dem Begleittext von Angela Hewitt © 2004
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Chopin: Nocturnes
Studio Master: CDA68351/22CDsStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Chopin: Nocturnes
CDD220132CDs Dyad (2 for the price of 1) — Last few CD copies remaining
Chopin: The Complete Works
CDS44351/6616CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
Chopin: Nocturnes & Impromptus
This album is not yet available for downloadSACDA67371/22CDs Super-Audio CD — Deleted
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