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The poor, sad angel (reissue)
Frédéric Chopin

Nikolai Lugansky

The poor, sad angel (reissue)

Price: € 14.95
Format: CD
Label: Fineline
UPC: 0608917241723
Catnr: FL 72417
Release date: 15 March 2024
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Label
Fineline
UPC
0608917241723
Catalogue number
FL 72417
Release date
15 March 2024

"A woody palette and phrasing with rich and contrasting nuances contribute to the success of this perfectly balanced approach. Since then, the pianist has undoubtedly agreed to take more risks and gives himself up more, but this youthful engraving already reveals what we first appreciate in his playing: a certain plastic beauty which charms with its purity."

Diapason, 01-7-2024
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Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

Chopin recital by the extraordinarily gifted young Nikolaj Lugansky.
To the exclusion of the Nocturne op. 27/2, the works on this recording were written in the years between 1841 and 1847, the ‘George Sand chapter’ in the Chopin biography.

Chopin met the writer in the fall of 1836 at the Countess Marie d’Agoult’s. Smoking sigars and often dressed as a man, Sand immediately roused Chopin’s aversion: “What an antipathetic person this Sand is! I doubt if she is a woman at all.” She, on the contrary, was fascinated by “that poor, sad angel” and slowly succeeded in winning him over. The famous journey to Mallorca, where Chopin composed his Préludes, was the final step. From then on Sand and Chopin were inseparable.
Chopinrecital van de buitengewoon begaafde Lugansky
De werken op dit album stammen, met uitzondering van de Nocturne opus 27/2, uit de periode 1841 tot 1847; het hoofdstuk “George Sand” in de Chopin-biografie.

Chopin ontmoette de schrijfster in de herfst van 1836 bij Gravin Marie d’Agoult. De sigarenrokende en dikwijls als man geklede Sand wekte direct de afkeer van Chopin op: “Wat is die Sand antipathiek! Ik betwijfel of zij wel een vrouw is.” Zij raakte daarentegen gefascineerd door “die arme, bedroefde engel” en wist hem langzaam voor zich te winnen. De beroemde reis naar Mallorca, waar Chopin zijn Préludes componeerde, was de laatste stap. Vanaf dat moment waren Sand en Chopin onafscheidelijk.

Sand beschrijft hoe Chopin componeerde: “Zijn scheppingen waren spontaan, wonderbaarlijk. Hij vond zonder zoeken, onvoorzien. Zij kwamen aan de piano – plotseling, volledig, subliem – of zongen in zijn hoofd tijdens een wandeling en hij had haast om ze op zijn instrument uit te storten en ze zo voor zichzelf hoorbaar te maken. Maar dan begon het meest grievende gezwoeg dat ik ooit heb bijgewoond.”

Deze beschrijving wordt vreemd genoeg niet gestaafd door Chopins manuscripten, die weinig aanleiding geven om te veronderstellen dat hij moeizaam componeerde. Integendeel: hij kon heel snel werken, maar had een hekel aan het uitschrijven van zijn muziek. Nadat zijn vriend en jarenlange kopiist Fontana in 1841 naar Amerika vertrok, nam het aantal werken dat hij voltooide dan ook ineens af. Toch ontstonden tussen 1841 en 1842 een groot aantal belangrijke werken, waaronder de omvangrijke Fantaisie opus 49, de Ballade opus 52, het Scherzo opus 54 en de wereldberoemde Polonaise opus 53.
Chopin-Rezital durch den außerordentlich begabten Lugansky

Mit Ausnahme des Nocturne op. 27/2 wurden die Werke dieser Aufnahme in den Jahren zwischen 1841 und 1847 geschrieben, dem "George-Sand-Kapitel" in der Chopin-Biographie.

Chopin lernte die Schriftstellerin im Herbst 1836 bei der Gräfin Marie d'Agoult kennen. Sand, der Zigarren raucht und sich oft als Mann verkleidet, erregt sofort Chopins Abneigung: "Was für eine antipathische Person ist diese Sand! Ich bezweifle, dass sie überhaupt eine Frau ist." Sie hingegen war fasziniert von "diesem armen, traurigen Engel" und es gelang ihr langsam, ihn für sich zu gewinnen. Die berühmte Reise nach Mallorca, wo Chopin seine Préludes komponierte, war der letzte Schritt. Von da an waren Sand und Chopin unzertrennlich.

Sand beschreibt, wie Chopin komponierte: "Seine Kreationen waren spontan, wunderbar. Er fand sie, ohne sie je vorauszusehen, ganz unerwartet. Sie kamen, wenn er Klavier spielte - plötzlich, vollständig, erhaben - oder sie sangen in seinem Kopf während eines Spaziergangs und er beeilte sich, sie auf sein Instrument zu bannen und sie so für sich hörbar zu machen. Doch dann kam die schlimmste Arbeit, die ich je erlebt habe."
Diese Beschreibung wird merkwürdigerweise nicht durch Chopins Manuskripte gestützt, die wenig darauf hindeuten, dass er mit Schwierigkeiten komponierte. Im Gegenteil: Er konnte sehr schnell arbeiten, aber er mochte es nicht, seine Musik aufzuschreiben. Nach der Abreise seines Freundes und langjährigen Sekretärs Fontana nach Amerika im Jahr 1841 ging die Zahl der von ihm vollendeten Werke plötzlich zurück. Dennoch entstanden in den Jahren 1841 und 1842 eine große Anzahl bedeutender Werke, darunter die große Phantasie op. 49, die Ballade op. 52, das Scherzo op. 54 und die weltberühmte Polonaise op. 53.

Artist(s)

Nikolai Lugansky (piano)

Nikolai Lugansky is now acknowledged as one of the world's great interpreters of the piano repertoire. He regularly works with prominent conductors of major orchestras. His concerts, recitals, and chamber music performances throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas have earned him the rapturous applause of critics as well as audiences.  His numerous recordings offer further evidence of his artistry. In 2000, he won the Diapason d'Or de l'Annee for his recording of the complete Chopin Etudes. His subsequent recordings of Rachmaninov Preludes and Moments Musicaux and Chopin Preludes each won him aDiapason d'Or as well. His disc of Rachmaninov Piano Concertos 1 & 3 has been awarded Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. His recording of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 for Pentatone Classics was selected as Gramophone Editor's Choice (February 2004). In addition to performing, Nikolai teaches at the Moscow Conservatory, where he is currently an assistant to Professor Sergei Dorensky. Apart...
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Nikolai Lugansky is now acknowledged as one of the world's great interpreters of the piano repertoire. He regularly works with prominent conductors of major orchestras. His concerts, recitals, and chamber music performances throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas have earned him the rapturous applause of critics as well as audiences. His numerous recordings offer further evidence of his artistry. In 2000, he won the Diapason d'Or de l'Annee for his recording of the complete Chopin Etudes. His subsequent recordings of Rachmaninov Preludes and Moments Musicaux and Chopin Preludes each won him aDiapason d'Or as well. His disc of Rachmaninov Piano Concertos 1 & 3 has been awarded Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. His recording of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 for Pentatone Classics was selected as Gramophone Editor's Choice (February 2004).
In addition to performing, Nikolai teaches at the Moscow Conservatory, where he is currently an assistant to Professor Sergei Dorensky.
Apart from music, Nikolai enjoys chess, literature and sports. He lives in Moscow with his wife and three children
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Composer(s)

Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin is one of the greatest composers of the Romantic piano tradition. He was a master in making the small form great. His ballades, mazurkas, polonaises, preludes, etudes and nocturnes all belong to the most popular standard works for piano ever written.  As a child prodigy, Chopin grew up in a middle class family, who lived among the literati of Warsaw. When in 1830 the November Uprising broke out in Poland, the twenty year old Chopin stayed in Vienna. He became an exile and never returned to his mother country. He eventually settled in Paris.  He avoided public concerts, but he did like performing in small settings, such as salons and at home for his friends. This way, Chopin built a...
more

Frédéric Chopin is one of the greatest composers of the Romantic piano tradition. He was a master in making the small form great. His ballades, mazurkas, polonaises, preludes, etudes and nocturnes all belong to the most popular standard works for piano ever written. As a child prodigy, Chopin grew up in a middle class family, who lived among the literati of Warsaw. When in 1830 the November Uprising broke out in Poland, the twenty year old Chopin stayed in Vienna. He became an exile and never returned to his mother country. He eventually settled in Paris. He avoided public concerts, but he did like performing in small settings, such as salons and at home for his friends. This way, Chopin built a reputation as an exceptional pianist, teacher and composer.
Chopin brought a unique synthesis between the Viennese bravado and the French/English lyric style. Even though his pieces often are technically very demanding, the focus was always on creating a lyric expression and poetic atmosphere. He invented the instrumental ballade, and brought salongenres to a higher level with his many innovations and refinements.


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Press

A woody palette and phrasing with rich and contrasting nuances contribute to the success of this perfectly balanced approach. Since then, the pianist has undoubtedly agreed to take more risks and gives himself up more, but this youthful engraving already reveals what we first appreciate in his playing: a certain plastic beauty which charms with its purity.
Diapason, 01-7-2024

Technical mastery is always at Chopin's service: the F minor Ballade has impressive sweep, there's poetry and delicacy in the Nocturnes, character in the Mazurkas and Polonaise... a rewarding recital.
BBC Music Magazine, 01-5-2024

How this piano rises in pure poetry, filled with a magical cantabile (the Ballade, the central section of the Scherzo), with crazy elegance for the Waltzes and the Mazurkas, always with this desire to move instead of to shine, to surprise instead of impressing (listen to the Polonaise, so perfectly constructed), a musician at work who will have encountered a magnificent instrument, woody throughout the registers, offering him this palette of nuances, in colors as in the dynamics, which capture the very soul of Chopin. Admirable record, finally within listening range again.
ARTALINNA, 30-4-2024

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