Ondine: Gergely Bogányi — The Chopin Album (Audio CD)

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD
• Brand / Label: Ondine
• Composer: Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
• Performer: Gergely Bogányi (piano)
• Catalog Number: ODE 1008-2
• UPC: 0761195100820
• Release Year: 2002
• Genre: Classical
• Style: Romantic, solo piano

Product Features

• Format: CD
• Discs: 1
• Tracks: 17
• Total runtime: 56:37
• Recording: DDD
• Booklet: French, German and Hungarian text
• Made in Austria
• Condition: Factory Sealed (New)

Overview

The heart of this disc is the complete Op. 25 — Chopin's second set of twelve études, the music that turned technical exercises into poetry. From the rippling A-flat "Aeolian Harp" that opens the set to the storming C minor "Ocean" that closes it, these are among the hardest and most beautiful pieces in the piano repertoire, and they ask everything of a player.

Gergely Bogányi has the equipment for them. A Hungarian pianist who won the Liszt and Kossuth Prizes early, he plays Chopin with a big, singing tone and the kind of technical command the Op. 25 set demands, never letting the difficulty show as mere effort.

Around the études, the program offers a generous sampling of the other Chopin: the late F minor Ballade, Op. 52 — for many the greatest of the four — two famous nocturnes, and a pair of waltzes. It makes for a satisfying recital shape, the lyrical and the virtuosic in balance. Recorded cleanly by Ondine, this is a strong single-disc Chopin album and a fine showcase for one of Hungary's leading pianists.

Interesting Facts

• The disc presents the complete Twelve Études, Op. 25, Chopin's second and final published set of concert études.
• The Op. 25 set includes the famous "Aeolian Harp" (No. 1), "Winter Wind" (No. 11) and "Ocean" (No. 12) études, nicknames that arose after Chopin's death.
• The F minor Ballade, Op. 52, is widely regarded as the most ambitious and profound of Chopin's four ballades.
• Gergely Bogányi is one of Hungary's most celebrated pianists, a recipient of both the Liszt Prize and the Kossuth Prize.
• Bogányi later became known for designing and building his own radically redesigned concert grand piano, unveiled in 2015.
• The album was recorded for the Finnish label Ondine and manufactured in Austria, with booklet notes in French, German and Hungarian.

Track Listing

1. Ballade in F minor, Op. 52 — 10:39
2. Nocturne in F sharp, Op. 15/2 — 3:17
3. Nocturne in E flat, Op. 9/2 — 3:58
4. Waltz in A minor, Op. 34/2 — 4:57
5. Waltz in F, Op. 34/3 — 2:02

Twelve Études, Op. 25

1. No. 1 in A flat — 2:22
2. No. 2 in F minor — 1:35
3. No. 3 in F — 1:47
4. No. 4 in A minor — 1:55
5. No. 5 in E minor — 3:22
6. No. 6 in G sharp minor — 1:51
7. No. 7 in C sharp minor — 5:14
8. No. 8 in D flat — 1:08
9. No. 9 in G flat — 1:03
10. No. 10 in B minor — 4:23
11. No. 11 in A minor — 3:36
12. No. 12 in C minor — 2:51

Publishers

Released 2002 by Ondine Inc., Helsinki. Recorded at Villa Gyllenberg. Manufactured in Austria. Label code LC 3572.

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