“Le Vent”
Fréderic Chopin
Sonata for Piano No. 2 in B flat minor, op. 35
1. I. Grave – Doppia movimento
2. II. Scherzo
3. III. Lento. Marche funèbre
4. IV. Finale. Presto
Charles Valentin Alkan
5. Le Vent No. 2 from Trois Morceaux dans le Genre Pathétique, Op. 15
Fréderic Chopin
12 Etudes, Op. 25
6. No. 1 in A-flat Major
7. No. 2 in F minor
8. No. 3 in F Major
9. No. 4 in A minor
10. No. 5 in E minor
11. No. 6 in G-sharp minor
12. No. 7 in C-sharp minor
13. No. 8 in D-flat Major
14. No. 9 in G-flat Major
15. No. 10 in B minor
16. No. 11 in A minor
17. No. 12 in C minor
Charles Valentin Alkan
18. Le festin d’èsope No. 12 from Douze études dans les tons mineurs Op. 13
Le Vent ©
Etsuko’s last recording for Denon, from the year 2007, has her turning to the music of Frédéric Chopin, another first in her discography. This final CD was eagerly awaited after the critically acclaimed first three
releases. This time the title originates from French composer (and neighbour to Chopin) Charles Valentin Alkan’s second piece from Opus 15, Le Vent. The interest around the world for the enigmatic Alkan, a super virtuoso whose concerts even left Liszt uneasy, was beginning to take flight and Etsuko Hirose made one of earliest digital recordings. Le Vent is in three sections, in a rough ABA form, with the outer sections containing chromatic scales throughout, like an impromptu, and the middle section contrasting with arpeggios (rather than chromatic scales) accompanying the melody. The other Alkan work on this disc – the final study from his later 12 Etudes Op 39 entitled Aesop’s Feast – is a work of 25 variations based on an original theme in E minor. The technical skills required in the variations are a culmination of the 11 preceding etudes from the Op 39 set. Chopin reached the same highly virtuosic demands in his two famous sets of Études, Opus 12 and Opus 25. The 12 Etudes Op 25 appear here on the album, placed between the Alkan works, and even if the musical challenges might be different between the two composers, they both use the instrument to its best advantage. Chopin is more in control of his musical aim – working his unique skill through singing arpeggios, chromatic turns, runs of thirds and in the end unison hands flying all over the keyboard in a storm more overwhelming than Alkan’s Le Vent, where he makes the piano sound like a whirlwind of wind instruments. Chopin’s Second Sonata is one of his masterpieces. The last movement was often romantically described as an icy wind hovering over the graves after the tragic funeral-march movement; the first movement seen as the human struggle of life with a near exhausting second movement leading into the above-mentioned funeral march. His First Sonata was a student work which he would later turn into a near fantasy in his final Third Sonata By combining two piano masters, Chopin and Alkan, Etsuko Hirose left Denon with four of today’s most sought-after early recordings and we are proud to re-release these fine recordings in a set now available worldwide. Hirose would later make recordings for record companies outside of Japan and would follow her special interest in piano composers such as Balakirev, Liapunov and Moszkowski as well as her own skilled piano transcriptions and realisations of works by Beethoven and Rimsky-Korsakov.
RELEASE DATE: November 2024
CATALOGUE NUMBER: DACOCD 995
EAN: 5709499992951