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 CDS44351/66

Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op 48 No 2

composer
1841; published 1842

Garrick Ohlsson (piano)
Recording details: October 1994
Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, State University of New York, USA
Produced by Adam Abeshouse
Engineered by Adam Abeshouse
Release date: November 2008
Total duration: 8 minutes 39 seconds

Cover artwork: Frédéric Chopin in concert at the Hotel Lambert, Paris (1840). Antar Teofil Kwiatowski (1809-1891)
Bibliothèque Polonaise, Paris / Archives Charmet / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

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

Reviews

‘Hyperion's big deal … Ohlsson is a powerful and committed player, and is afforded very good sound by the engineers … this is almost certainly how these pieces were played in Chopin's time’ (The Mail on Sunday)

‘This is an oustanding achievement, which any genuine Chopin lover and student of Romantic music should own … a landmark in the recording of Chopin's music … Garrick Ohlsson and Hyperion deserve the greatest success in bringing this important undertaking to such a consistently impressive conclusion’ (International Record Review)

‘An attractively priced box set … Ohlsson is in a class of his own’ (Pianist)

‘The collaborative works receive particularly rewarding performances … Ohlsson arguably offers more consistent artistry than Biret, Ashkenazy, Magaloff, and Harasiewicz’ (Classics Today)

‘Garrick Ohlsson’s complete survey of everything Chopin wrote for piano (including chamber music, songs, and for piano and orchestra) will delight the completist and the Chopin connoisseur. Ohlsson (who won the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1970) gives us accounts of this wondrous repertoire in weighty and commanding style, aristocratic and impulsive (but not lacking light and shade or contemplative contrasts) and, at times, very sensitive and searching. These vivid recordings were made in the second half of the 1990s and have previously appeared on the Arabesque label. They now sit very well in Hyperion’s catalogue’ (Classical Source)
The F sharp minor Nocturne is melancholic but not totally without hope. The flowing outer sections are contrasted by a recitative-like section in which the composer wanted the first two chords to sound like an order from a tyrant, and the answer begging for mercy. The most expressive part of this piece is the final page where the same descending chromatic line appears twice, harmonized differently. The set is dedicated to Mlle Laure Duperré, a student of Chopin.

from notes by Angela Hewitt © 2004

Le Nocturne en fa dièse mineur est mélancolique, mais pas totalement désespéré. Aux fluides sections extrêmes s’oppose une section de type récitatif, dont les deux permiers accords doivent, nous dit Chopin, sonner comme l’ordre d’un tyran, cependant que la réponse implore la miséricorde. La partie la plus expressive de cette pièce est la page finale, où la même ligne chromatique descendante apparaît sous deux harmonisations différentes. Cet opus est dédié à Mlle Laure Duperré, élève de Chopin.

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

Das Nocturne in fis-Moll ist melancholisch, aber nicht ganz ohne Hoffnung. Die fließenden Außenteile sind einer rezitativartigen Passage gegenübergestellt, in der der Komponist die ersten beiden Akkorde wie den Befehl eines Tyrannen plante, auf die dann eine um Gnade flehende Antwort folgen sollte. Der expressivste Teil dieses Stückes ist die letzte Seite, wo dieselbe absteigende chromatische Linie zweimal erscheint, doch unterschiedlich harmonisiert ist. Diese beiden Nocturnes sind Mlle Laure Duperré, eine Schülerin Chopins, gewidmet.

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: Nocturnes & Impromptus
Studio Master: CDA67371/22CDsStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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...