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Track(s) taken from CDA67849

Nocturne in E flat major, Op 9 No 2

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

Stephen Hough (piano)
Recording details: October 2010
Concert Hall, Wyastone Estate, Monmouth, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: August 2011
Total duration: 3 minutes 52 seconds

Cover artwork: Black and White (1960/1). Ellsworth Kelly (b1923)
The Art Institute of Chicago, restricted gift of Mr and Mrs Arnold H Maremount / Photograph by Grant Hiroshima
 

Other recordings available for download

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

Reviews

‘Launching his latest album with the earliest of waltzes to which Chopin gave an opus number, Stephen Hough sets a sparkling tone for what follows on this altogether brilliant disc … Hough is a pianist with all the elegance, wit and virtuosity required for these pieces, yet he also finds the deep vein of melancholy that runs through many of them’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Hough's decision to record the eight published waltzes in chronological order allows us to gain a feel for Chopin's glorious development in this genre … essential listening’ (The Observer)

‘Chopin’s waltzes are salon pieces, but always more than salon pieces, and Hough brings an astonishing range of touch to them. All those sophisticated inner parts and harmonic shifts are brought out with the greatest insouciance and style’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Hough's playing has such authority and panache, its balance between virtuosity and vividly communicated expression so finely judged, that every perfectly scaled moment is as intensely realised as every other. Few other pianists around today play Chopin with as much understanding and poised mastery as this’ (The Guardian)

‘Every [Waltz] conveys the feeling of bodies in motion, skirts twirling, and hearts intertwined … you don’t just hear Hough’s fingers; you hear his soul … the Minute Waltz contains one of the best melting moments of all; I could feel my knees giving way … I knew I’d never get my shins kicked, or an ache in the heel: I was dancing with Chopin and one of the world’s top pianists’ (The Times)

‘The leading British virtuoso has championed the byways of the piano literature since his award-winning Hummel concertos disc for Chandos. That he is also the most compelling interpreter of the mainstream classics is demonstrated by this winning collection of the 17 canonical masterpieces—and a handful of "encores" … his delicious lilt and rubato always seem perfectly judged, and he sweeps us off our feet with the twinkle-fingered brilliance of his dashing F major waltz … after the whirlwind merry-go-round of Chopin's imaginary ballroom, he sends us off to bed with a reposeful nocturne (Op 9 No 2)—a delightfully thoughtful touch to crown a mesmerising collection’ (The Sunday Times)
Set amid Chopin’s ruminations in waltz-form on the idea of musical popularity, the Nocturne in E flat major, Op 9 No 2, represents the perfect companion. In this most admired of his nocturnes, we can hear distant echoes of the accompanimental patterns of the waltz, here rendered with greater subtlety, and in the service of lyrical expression.

from notes by Jeffrey Kallberg © 2011

Le Nocturne en mi bémol majeur op. 9 no 2 accompagne à merveille les ruminations, dans la forme valse, auxquelles Chopin se livra sur la popularité musicale. Dans ce Nocturne, le plus admiré de tous, on entend de lointains échos des modèles accompagnants de la valse, rendus ici avec une subtilité accrue, au service de l’expression lyrique.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jeffrey Kallberg © 2011
Français: Hypérion

Inmitten von Chopins Grübeleien über die Idee der musikalischen Popularität in Walzerform stellt das Nocturne in Es-Dur op. 9 Nr. 2 das ideale Begleitstück dar. In diesem Werk, dem bewundertsten seiner Nocturnes, sind entfernte Echos der Begleitmuster des Walzers zu hören, die hier mit größerer Subtilität eingearbeitet sind und im Dienst des lyrischen Ausdrucks auftreten.

aus dem Begleittext von Jeffrey Kallberg © 2011
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: Nocturnes & Impromptus
Studio Master: CDA67371/22CDsStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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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