Chopin: Works for Piano and Orchestra Vol. 1 - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
5/3/2011, 6 Tracks, 1:13:43
Featuring
Grzegorz Nowak
Janusz Olejniczak
Sinfonia Varsovia
Frédéric Chopin
Did you know?
1/7
Composition History
The Concerto in F minor, Op. 21, was written chronologically before the E minor Concerto, Op. 11, but was published later due to Chopin losing the orchestral parts and having to re-orchestrate it.
Compositional Technique
Chopin enriched the prevalent 'concert brillant' style by shifting emphasis from virtuoso sections to lyrical fragments, even doing away with the traditional virtuoso cadenzas.
Composition History
Chopin was only 19 years old when he wrote his two piano concertos, which are considered a splendid climax to his Warsaw period.
Performer Biography
Grzegorz Nowak, the conductor, won multiple awards at the 1984 Ernest Ansermet International Conducting Competition in Geneva and was an assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic at Kurt Masur's invitation.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Chopin confided to his friend Tytus Wojciechowski that the Larghetto movement of the F minor Concerto was inspired by Konstancja Gładkowska, his 'ideal' and a source of happy memories.
Critical Reception
Chopin himself considered the E minor Concerto to be deeper and more mature, while his teacher Józef Elsner found the F minor Concerto more inspired and poetic.
Performer Biography
Janusz Olejniczak, the pianist on this recording, is a prize winner of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw (1970) and played Chopin in Andrzej Żuławski's film 'La note bleue'.
