Nocturnes; Barcarolle; Fantaisie.Chopin: Nocturnes
Nocturnes is an orchestral composition in three movements by the French composer Claude Debussy. ; Barcarolle bar·ca·role also bar·ca·rolle n. 1. A Venetian gondolier's song with a rhythm suggestive of rowing. 2. A composition imitating a Venetian gondolier's song. ; Fantaisie. Claudio Arrau Claudio Arrau León (February 6, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was a Chilean pianist of world fame for his deep interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. , piano. Philips 289 464 694-2 (2-disc set). Chopin didn't invent the Nocturne nocturne (nŏk`tûrn) [Fr.,=night piece], in music, romantic instrumental piece, free in form and usually reflective or languid in character. John Field wrote the first nocturnes, influencing Chopin in the writing of his 19 nocturnes for piano. , that's credited to Irishman John Field, but Chopin did quite a lot to perfect and popularize pop·u·lar·ize tr.v. pop·u·lar·ized, pop·u·lar·iz·ing, pop·u·lar·iz·es 1. To make popular: A famous dancer popularized the new hairstyle. 2. the genre in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Nocturnes today are thought of as romantic mood pieces, expressive melodies with a broad, buoyant, sustained accompaniment, and no one before or since has done them as eloquently as Chopin. The composer must have loved the form because he continued writing Nocturnes all his short life, the first ones penned in his teens and early twenties, the final ones written just a couple of years before his death. They're all here, exquisitely beautiful, done up in rapt concentration and deeply committed poetry by pianist Claudio Arrau. In addition to the Nocturnes, including the posthumous post·hu·mous adj. 1. Occurring or continuing after one's death: a posthumous award. 2. Published after the writer's death: a posthumous book. 3. C sharp minor, Arrau adds the Barcarolle in F sharp and the popular Fantaisie in F minor. Along with Rubinstein's equally commendable set for RCA See RCA connector and video/TV history. , these are probably the finest interpretations of the works you'll find on disc. Philips have remastered the 1978 analogue recordings using 96 kHz, 24-bit Super Digital technology for smooth all-around sound and reasonably low noise. They aren't as quiet as new all-digital recordings, to be sure, but after the first few seconds of listening I never noticed the small amount of background noise present. The Chopin is among the first of Philips' new line of remastered classics, among which I can highly recommend Haitink's Mahler Ninth Symphony (289 464 714-2), Kovacevich's Grieg Piano Concerto (289 464 702-2), Kondrashin's Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade (289 464 735-2), and Gardiner's Handel Water Music (289 464 706-2). They celebrate Philips' first 50 years of music making and, thus, the series is called "Philips 50: Great Recordings." In my comparisons of a few of them to their previous CD counterparts, the new remasterings bring a touch more refinement and polish to the sound, without losing much vitality in the process. |
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