[ Hyperion / 2 CD ]
Release Date: Monday 12 June 2000
Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 5 business days.
Godowsky's Studies on Chopin's Etudes have achieved a legendary status among piano enthusiasts. Few areas of the repertoire have such a notorious reputation for technical difficulty and audacious compositional invention. Far from being disrespectful maltreatments of Chopin's masterpieces, Godowsky's elaborations aim to extend the limits of modern piano technique. Some recast Chopin's right-hand passagework for the left hand while introducing new contrapuntal ideas; some treat the originals more freely, inverting, imitating or combining two Etudes; others are character pieces or variations based on Chopin's originals; and twenty-two of the Studies are for the left hand alone.
Taken as a whole, these Studies revolutionized piano writing and expanded the polyphonic and polyrhythmic capabilities of the instrument. They remain among the most daunting challenges of the piano literature, their difficulties not always fully apparent to the listener.
Pianists brave enough to tackle this music have often been content merely to get through the notes. Marc-André Hamelin, renowned for his superhuman technical control, injects them with the required range of character, colour and musicianship, as well as breathtaking virtuosity. Uniquely available on 2CDs, this will surely be the benchmark recording for all time.
This set comes with a handsome booklet, including an essay by the Godowsky expert Jeremy Nicholas and individual commentaries by Marc-André Hamelin.
"It is quite stunning, an extraordinary schievement even by Hamelin's own standards. No one with an interest in the piano should pass this by."
Rosette (Highest Rating) - Penguin Stereo Guide
"Hamelin's dazzling performance of these controversial studies effortlessly eclipses other recordings and crowns his already awe-inspiring discography. A phenomenal achievement."
Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (May 2000)
"Virtuosity knows no bounds when Marc-Andre Hamelin takes to the ivories. Here he is at his most awe-inspiring in clever arrangements of Chopin's etudes."
Disc of the Month - Classic CD (June 2000)
Gramophone Award Winner 2000 - Instrumental
COMPACT DISC 1 - 77'56
No 1, Op 10 No 1 (1st version), C major [2'11]
No 2, Op 10 No 1 (2nd version), D flat major, left hand [2'41]
No 3, Op 10 No 2 (1st version), A minor, left hand [1'45]
No 4, Op 10 No 2 (2nd version), A minor, 'Ignis fatuus' [1'58]
No 5, Op 10 No 3, D flat major, left hand [4'45]
No 6, Op 10 No 4, C sharp minor, left hand [2'47]
No 7, Op 10 No 5 (1st version), G flat major [1'40]
No 8, Op 10 No 5 (2nd version), C major [1'49]
No 9, Op 10 No 5 (3rd version), A minor, 'Tarantella' [2'28]
No 10, Op 10 No 5 (4th version), A major, 'Capriccio' [2'09]
No 11, Op 10 No 5 (5th version), G flat major [1'57]
No 12, Op 10 No 5 (6th version), G flat major [1'49]
No 12a, Op 10 No 5 (7th version), G flat major, left hand [2'19]
No 13, Op 10 No 6, E flat minor, left hand [3'43]
No 14, Op 10 No 7 (1st version), C major, 'Toccata' [1'48]
No 15, Op 10 No 7 (2nd version), G flat major, 'Nocturne' [2'54]
No 15a, Op 10 No 7 (3rd version), E flat major, left hand [2'25]
No 16, Op 10 No 8 (1st version), F major [3'13]
No 16a, Op 10 No 8 (2nd version), G flat major, left hand [3'40]
No 17, Op 10 No 9 (1st version), C sharp minor [2'40]
No 18, Op 10 No 9 (2nd version), F minor, Imitation of Op 25 No 2 [2'41]
No 18a, Op 10 No 9 (3rd version), F sharp minor, left hand [4'27]
No 19, Op 10 No 10 (1st version), D major [3'55]
No 20, Op 10 No 10 (2nd version), A flat major, left hand [3'14]
No 21, Op 10 No 11, A major, left hand [3'22]
No 22, Op 10 No 12, C sharp minor, left hand [3'15]
No 23, Op 25 No 1 (1st version), A flat major, left hand [3'03]
No 24, Op 25 No 1 (2nd version), A flat major, like a piece for 4 hands [3'02]
COMPACT DISC 2 - 75'06
No 25, Op 25 No 1 (3rd version), A flat major [2'45]
No 26, Op 25 No 2 (1st version), F minor [1'39]
No 27, Op 25 No 2 (2nd version), F minor, 'Waltz' [2'12]
No 28, Op 25 No 2 (3rd version - A), F minor [2'38]
No 28, Op 25 No 2 (3rd version - B), F minor [3'00]
No 28a, Op 25 No 2 (4th version), F sharp minor, left hand [2'40]
No 29, Op 25 No 3 (1st version), F major [2'25]
No 30, Op 25 No 3 (2nd version), F major, left hand [2'32]
No 31, Op 25 No 4 (1st version), A minor, left hand [2'22]
No 32, Op 25 No 4 (2nd version), F minor, 'Polonaise' [6'03]
No 33, Op 25 No 5 (1st version), E minor [3'47]
No 34, Op 25 No 5 (2nd version), C sharp minor, 'Mazurka' [3'36]
No 35, Op 25 No 5 (3rd version), B flat minor, left hand [4'25]
No 36, Op 25 No 6, G sharp minor [2'12]
No 38, Op 25 No 8, D flat major [1'29]
No 39, Op 25 No 9 (1st version), G flat major [1'03]
No 40, Op 25 No 9 (2nd version), G flat major, left hand [1'32]
No 41, Op 25 No 10, B minor, left hand [4'38]
No 42, Op 25 No 11, A minor [4'28]
No 43, Op 25 No 12, C sharp minor, left hand [3'21]
No 44, Meth. M-F No 1, F minor, left hand [1'49]
No 45, Méth. M-F No 2 (1st version), E major, [4'08]
No 45a, Méth. M-F No 2 (2nd version), D flat major, left hand [2'10]
No 46, Méth. M-F No 3, G major 'Menuetto' [3'14]
No 47, Op 10 No 5 and Op 25 No 9, G flat major, 'Badinage', 2 studies combined [1'34]
No 48 Op 10 No 11 and Op 25 No 3, F major, 2 studies combined [3'08]