Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67371/2

Impromptu No 2 in F sharp major, Op 36

composer
1839

Angela Hewitt (piano)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: November 2003
Reitstadel, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Germany
Produced by Ludger Böckenhoff
Engineered by Ludger Böckenhoff
Release date: November 2004
Total duration: 6 minutes 20 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Garrick Ohlsson (piano)
Pavel Kolesnikov (piano)
James Rhodes (piano)
Grigory Ginzburg (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 Impromptu in F sharp major, Op 36, embraces the extemporaneity that is characteristic of the genre, but in ways that distinguish it from the other three impromptus: the initial repeating bass figuration opens the way to a kind of variation technique in the melody that anticipates the Berceuse, Op 57, and moments of complex transitional harmony (as in the move out of the march-like central section and into the wrong-key reprise of the opening theme) give the impression of a pianist extemporizing chromatic chord progressions.

from notes by Jeffrey Kallberg © 2019

L’Impromptu en fa dièse majeur, op.36, épouse le côté improvisé caractéristique du genre, mais d’une manière qui le distingue des trois autres impromptus: la figuration initiale qui se répète à la basse ouvre la voie à une sorte de technique de variation de la mélodie qui préfigure la Berceuse, op.57, et des moments d’harmonie transitoire complexe (comme la fin de la section centrale comparable à une marche et le début de la reprise du thème initial dans la mauvaise tonalité) donnent l’impression d’un pianiste improvisant des progressions d’accords chromatiques.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jeffrey Kallberg © 2019
Français: Marie-Stella Pâris

Das Impromptu Fis-Dur, op. 36, macht sich das für das Genre charakteristische Stehgreif-Element zu eigen, jedoch in einer Weise, die sich von den anderen drei Impromptus unterscheidet. Die sich wiederholende Bass-Figuration des Beginns macht den Weg frei für eine Art von Variationstechnik in der Melodie, die die Berceuse, op. 57, vorwegnimmt, sowie für Momente von komplexen Übergangsharmonien (wie etwa die Überleitung von dem marschartigen Mittelteil in die Reprise des Anfangsthemas in der „falschen“ Tonart), womit der Eindruck entsteht, der Pianist improvisiere chromatische Akkordfortschreitungen.

aus dem Begleittext von Jeffrey Kallberg © 2019
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Chopin & Bach: Vitamin C
Studio Master: SIGCD851Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Chopin: Impromptus, waltzes & mazurkas
Studio Master: CDA68273Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Chopin: Preludes & Impromptus
CDH55383Last few CD copies remaining
Chopin: The Complete Works
CDS44351/6616CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
Grigory Ginzburg - His early recordings – 2
APR5672Download only
Chopin: Nocturnes & Impromptus
This album is not yet available for downloadSACDA67371/22CDs Super-Audio CD — Deleted
Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...