Author(s): Siepmann, Jeremy
Composer(s): Chopin, Fryderyk
Artist(s): Siepmann, Jeremy
Label: Naxos Educational
Genre: Music Biographies
Period: Romantic
Catalogue No: 8.558001-04
Barcode: 0636943800126
Release Date: 03/2001

Life and Works: CHOPIN (Siepmann)

Frédéric Chopin is the pianist-composer par excellence. Regarded one of the most mesmeric performers of his day, he lives on in his music – his waltzes, mazurkas, études, 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, and his death at the age of 49 in Paris, is told with his music featuring prominently.

Tracklist

Disc 1
Chopin, Fryderyk
Siepmann, Jeremy - Author
1 Chopin and the soul of the piano 01:49
2 Music: Berceuse, Op. 57 02:17
3 Chopin the Pole 01:48
4 Music: Polonaise in G Minor 01:04
5 Early education 03:05
6 Music: Variations on a German Air 01:33
7 Encounters with the Polish peasantry 01:02
8 Music: Mazurka in G Major 01:13
9 Chopin as industrious pupil 00:58
10 Music: Sonata in C Minor (Opening) 01:49
11 He finds his true voice as a composer 01:50
12 Music: Rondo a la Mazur, Op. 5 01:05
13 The fun-loving teenager 01:17
14 Music: Ecossaise, Op. 72, No. 3 00:45
15 Onset of illness and the death of a sister 02:05
16 Music: Nocturne in E Minor 04:32
17 ' Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!' 01:36
18 Music: Variations on ' La ci darem la mano', Op. 2 03:41
19 The influence of Paganini 01:19
20 Music: Souvenir de Paganini 02:10
21 The First Etudes 00:44
22 Music: Etude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 10, No. 4 02:15
23 Success in Vienna 05:58
24 Music: Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor 01:23
25 Chopin in love 05:19
26 Music: Polonaise for cello and piano 01:33
27 Stagnation, celebrity and the first Concerto 02:18
28 Music: Concerto in F Minor, Op. 21 01:42
29 Return of vitality and inspiration 05:10
30 Music: Concerto in E Minor, Op. 11 10:49
31 Farewells and the final departure from Poland 01:38
Disc 2
1 Europe and Chopin in crisis 07:43
2 Music: Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor 04:28
3 Arrival in Paris 02:24
4 Music: Waltz in E flat, Op. 18 05:31
5 Paris, politics, Poles and performance 07:40
6 Music: Impromptu in A flat, Op. 29 04:27
7 Chopin and the Opera 01:49
8 Music: Andante spianato, Op. 22 04:37
9 Chopin and Kalkbrenner 02:15
10 Music: Etude in G flat, Op. 10, No. 5 01:47
11 The cholera epidemic; the fashionable teacher 07:52
12 Music: Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12, the 'Revolutionary' 03:02
13 Teaching in earnest 04:58
14 Music: Etude in A Minor, Op. 25, No. 4 01:47
15 'Souplesse avant tout!' 02:24
16 Music: Nocturne in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9, No. 1 05:34
Disc 3
1 The Wodzinska affair 03:43
2 Music: Nocturne in B Major, Op. 32, No. 1 02:08
3 ' An elegant, pale, sad young man ' 02:14
4 Music: Nocturne in D flat, Op. 27, No. 2 06:10
5 George Sand and A Majorcan winter 22:08
6 Music: Preludes,Op. 28 06:17
7 Misanthropy, hypocrisy and prejudice 03:38
8 Music: Mazurkas 07:25
9 At Nohant: an idyllic and creative summer 02:33
10 Music: Impromptu in F# 05:47
11 The Idyll continues 04:57
12 Music: Sonata in B-Flat Minor - Funeral March and finale 10:41
Disc 4
1 The return to Paris 02:27
2 Music: Ballade No. 4 in F Minor 12:11
3 Chopin grows moody, petulant and volatile 05:57
4 Music: Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58-Finale 05:33
5 Failing health and mounting tensions 04:34
6 Music: Barcarolle, Op. 60 08:42
7 The break with Sand; illness; London 12:33
8 Music: Prelude in F sharp, Op. 28, No. 8 01:53
9 Scotland, London, Paris; decline and death 14:01
10 Music: Polonaise in A flat, Op. 53 07:13

Total Playing Time: 04:56:50