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Life and Works: CHOPIN (Siepmann)

Life and Works
Frédéric Chopin
Author and Narrator: Jeremy Siepmann
Anton Lesser as Chopin
Other parts taken by Neville Jason, Elaine Claxton and Karen Archer
4 CDs
164-page booklet
Naxos 8.558001-04
ISBN: 1-84379-092-0

Frédéric Chopin is the pianist-composer par excellence. Regarded as one of the most mesmerising performers of his day, he lives on in his music - his waltzes, mazurkas, etudes, preludes, nocturnes, three piano sonatas, two piano concertos and much more. Here, his life, from his birth in Poland, his famous affair with the French writer George Sand, to his death at the age of 39 in Paris, is told with his music featuring prominently.

We think of Chopin as a 'frail, sheltered genius' but this forthright portrait demonstrates he was far more boisterous than that. Cheerful as a youth, it was only later that the glare of publicity, the change from local to national celebrity, made Chopin guard his privacy more carefully. This is clearly presented in Jeremy Siepmann's sympathetic account of the life of one of the key figures in Romantic music, and emphasised in the very personal portrayal by the English classical actor Anton Lesser. The accompanying booklet is packed with extra information about Chopin's life and background.

Disc 1

Chopin, Fryderyk

Frédéric Chopin: Life and Works

1.	Chopin and the soul of the piano 00:01:49

2.	Music: Berceuse, Op. 57 00:02:17

3.	Chopin the Pole 00:01:48

4.	Music: Polonaise in G minor 00:01:04

5.	Early education 00:03:05

6.	Music: Variations on a German Air 00:01:33

7.	Encounters with the Polish peasantry 00:01:02

8.	Music: Mazurka in G major 00:01:13

9.	Chopin as industrious pupil 00:00:58

10.	Music: Sonata in C minor (Opening) 00:01:49

11.	He finds his true voice as a composer 00:01:50

12.	Music: Rondo a la Mazur, Op. 5 00:01:05

13.	The fun - loving teenager 00:01:17

14.	Music: Ecossaise, Op. 72, No. 3 00:00:45

15.	Onset of illness and the death of a sister 00:02:05

16.	Music: Nocturne in E minor 00:04:32

17.	' Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!' 00:01:36

18.	Music: Variations on ' La ci darem la mano', Op. 2 00:03:41

19.	The influence of Paganini 00:01:19

20.	Music: Souvenir de Paganini 00:02:10

21.	The First Etudes 00:00:44

22.	Music: Etude in C sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4 00:02:15

23.	Success in Vienna 00:05:58

24.	Music: Nocturne in C sharp minor 00:01:23

25.	Chopin in love 00:05:19

26.	Music: Polonaise for cello and piano 00:01:33

27.	Stagnation, celebrity and the first Concerto 00:02:18

28.	Music: Concerto in F minor, Op. 21 00:01:42

29.	Return of vitality and inspiration 00:05:10

30.	Music: Concerto in E minor, Op. 11 00:10:49

31.	Farewells and the final departure from Poland 00:01:38

Disc 2

Chopin, Fryderyk

Frédéric Chopin: Life and Works

1.	Europe and Chopin in crisis 00:07:43

2.	Music: Scherzo No. 1 in B minor 00:04:28

3.	Arrival in Paris 00:02:24

4.	Music: Waltz in E flat, Op. 18 00:05:31

5.	Paris, politics, Poles and performance 00:07:40

6.	Music: Impromptu in A flat, Op. 29 00:04:27

7.	Chopin and the Opera 00:01:49

8.	Music: Andante spianato, Op. 22 00:04:37

9.	Chopin and Kalkbrenner 00:02:15

10.	Music: Etude in G flat, Op. 10, No. 5 00:01:47

11.	The cholera epidemic; the fashionable teacher 00:07:52

12.	Music: Etude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12, the 'Revolutionary' 00:03:02

13.	Teaching in earnest 00:04:58

14.	Music: Etude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 4 00:01:47

15.	'Souplesse avant tout!' 00:02:24

16.	Music: Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1 00:05:34

Disc 3

Chopin, Fryderyk

Frédéric Chopin: Life and Works

1.	The Wodzinska affair 00:03:43

2.	Music: Nocturne in B major, Op. 32, No. 1 00:02:08

3.	' An elegant, pale, sad young man ' 00:02:14

4.	Music: Nocturne in D flat, Op. 27, No. 2 00:06:10

5.	George Sand and a Majorcan winter 00:22:08

6.	Music: Preludes,Op. 28 00:06:17

7.	Misanthropy, hypocrisy and prejudice 00:03:38

8.	Music: Mazurkas 00:07:25

9.	At Nohant: an idyllic and creative summer 00:02:33

10.	Music: Impromptu in F# 00:05:47

11.	The Idyll continues 00:04:57

12.	Music: Sonata in B flat minor - Funeral March and finale 00:10:41

Disc 4

Chopin, Fryderyk

Frédéric Chopin: Life and Works

1.	The return to Paris 00:02:27

2.	Music: Ballade No. 4 in F minor 00:12:11

3.	Chopin grows moody, petulant and volatile 00:05:57

4.	Music: Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 - Finale 00:05:33

5.	Failing health and mounting tensions 00:04:34

6.	Music: Barcarolle, Op. 60 00:08:42

7.	The break with Sand; illness; London 00:12:33

8.	Music: Prelude in F sharp, Op. 28, No. 8 00:01:53

9.	Scotland, London, Paris; decline and death 00:14:01

10.	Music: Polonaise in A flat, Op. 53 00:07:13

Total Playing Time: 04:56:50

Author(s):
Siepmann, Jeremy

Composer(s):
Chopin, Fryderyk

Reader(s):
Siepmann, Jeremy

Label: Naxos Educational

Series: Life and Works

Genre: Music Biographies

Period: Romantic

Catalogue No: 8.558001-04

Barcode: 0636943800126

Physical Release: 03/2001


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10:25:27 AM, 23 November 2009

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Life and Works: CHOPIN (Siepmann)