Vladimir FeltsmaN Vladimir Chopin • Complete Waltzes and Impromptus Feltsman Waltzes 1. No. 1 in E flat Major, Op. 18 5:19 2. No. 2 in A flat Major, Op. 34, no. 1 5:31 3. No. 3 in A minor, Op. 34, no. 2 5:40 4. No. 4 in F Major, Op. 34, no. 3 2:18 5. No. 5 in A flat Major, Op. 42 3:55 6. No. 6 in D flat Major, Op. 64, no. 1 1:48 7. No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64, no. 2 3:28 8. No. 8 in A flat Major, Op. 64, no. 3 2:58 9. No. 9 in A flat Major, Op. 69, no. 1 (posth.) 4:15 10. No. 10 in B minor, Op. 69, no. 2 (posth.) 3:45 11. No. 11 in G flat Major, Op. 70. no. 1 (posth.) 2:02 12. No. 12 in F minor, Op. 70, no. 2 (posth.) 2:54 13. No. 13 in D flat Major, Op. 70, no. 3 (posth.) 2:40 14. No. 14 in E minor, Op. posth. 2:57 Impromptus 15. No. 1 in A flat Major, Op. 29 3:59 16. No. 2 in F sharp Major, Op. 36 5:38 17. No. 3 in G flat Major, Op. 51 6:05 18. Fantasie Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66 5:15 Total time: 70:28 Production: Mark Fouxman , Samar Audio Design LLC • www . samaraudiodesign .com This CD was recorded with microphones, preamplifier, and A/D converter designed and built by Mark Fouxman of Samar Audio Design LLC. Recording: Fisher Performing Arts Center at Bard College, New York • June 2,3, 2010, Piano: Steinway&Sons “D” Producer: Vladimir Feltsman Design: ©2012 BLHN Media, Frankfurt, Germany Fryderyk Chopin Website: www.feltsman.com • www.wyastone.co.uk Complete Waltzes & Impromptus Vladimir FeltsmaN Chopin • Complete Waltzes and Impromptus Waltzes 1. No. 1 in E flat Major, Op. 18 5:19 2. No. 2 in A flat Major, Op. 34, no. 1 5:31 3. No. 3 in A minor, Op. 34, no. 2 5:40 4. No. 4 in F Major, Op. 34, no. 3 2:18 5. No. 5 in A flat Major, Op. 42 3:55 6. No. 6 in D flat Major, Op. 64, no. 1 1:48 7. No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64, no. 2 3:28 8. No. 8 in A flat Major, Op. 64, no. 3 2:58 9. No. 9 in A flat Major, Op. 69, no. 1 (posth.) 4:15 10. No. 10 in B minor, Op. 69, no. 2 (posth.) 3:45 11. No. 11 in G flat Major, Op. 70. no. 1 (posth.) 2:02 12. No. 12 in F minor, Op. 70, no. 2 (posth.) 2:54 13. No. 13 in D flat Major, Op. 70, no. 3 (posth.) 2:40 14. No. 14 in E minor, Op. posth. 2:57 Impromptus 15. No. 1 in A flat Major, Op. 29 3:59 16. No. 2 in F sharp Major, Op. 36 5:38 17. No. 3 in G flat Major, Op. 51 6:05 18. Fantasie Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66 5:15 Total time: 70:28 Production: Mark Fouxman, Samar Audio Design LLC • www. samaraudiodesign.com This CD was recorded with microphones, preamplifier, and A/D converter designed and built by Mark Fouxman of Samar Audio Design LLC. Recording: Fisher Performing Arts Center at Bard College, New York • June 2,3, 2010, Piano: Steinway&Sons “D” «...quite simply an amazing pianist!» Producer: Vladimir Feltsman The New York Times Design: ©2012 BLHN Media, Frankfurt, Germany «...quite simply an amazing pianist!» Website: www.feltsman.com • www.wyastone.co.uk The New York Times the left hand that sounds like a lullaby. The model worked very well for Chopin and he mas- Chopin: Waltzes & Impromptus are immediately recognizable as his. Indeed, melody enters on top and we have a real duo – tered it fully. The theme of the middle section is by Vladimir Feltsman Chopin may be the most distinctly recognizable the left hand keeps repeating the opening for- derived from the main theme that appears at the composer of all. No matter what the form or mula and the melody soars freely over this very beginning – this single thematic material is Chopin wrote only five large scale compositions idiom, his unique voice comes through clearly. steady background. There is a middle episode presented in different guises. A turbulent coda for piano – two concertos and three sonatas. All Chopin’s Waltzes are less dramatic than his with a syncopated rhythm that brings with it brings back the theme from the middle episode the rest, the Etudes, Preludes, Scherzos, Bal- Polonaises and more public than the Mazurkas. some unexpected heroic overtones. The extended for eight bars and resolves itself into a C sharp lades, Polonaises, Mazurkas, Waltzes, Nocturnes, They are written mostly in a simple standard reprise is a marvel; the main theme returns in F major chord played ppp, a simple and under- and Impromptus, the Fantasie, Barcarole, and form – the theme and various episodes alternate major instead of the tonic key of F sharp – a very stated ending for the Impromptus, one of the Berceuse, range from just one minute to fourteen and there are plenty of different tunes that come unusual and quite radical move flawlessly exe- finest sets of works Chopin ever wrote. minutes in length. and go. More often than not there is a coda. The cuted by Chopin. There is a seamless transition He wrote three sets of dances in triple meter – Waltzes are clearly salon pieces and ought to be to the tonic key; a marvelous and flamboyant the Mazurkas, Polonaises, and Waltzes. His played as such. They include some of Chopin’s episode (quite challenging technically) follows, Mazurkas and Polonaises have a clear Polish ori- most open and publicly oriented works, utilizing filled with scales running up and down on top gin; the Waltzes are more cosmopolitan works ready-made idioms and gestures of which he and the melody in the left hand. This Impromptu that incorporate some of the universal waltz id- himself could be very critical; he credited the ends with the tune that appeared first at the end ioms of the first half of the nineteenth century. popularity of Lanner’s waltzes to the “public’s of exposition. Two chords fortissimo end this The waltz derives from the Ländler, which in corrupt taste.” However, even when he worked amazing work. turn had its roots in a rather bawdy German folk in a well-established musical form, Chopin re- The Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major Op. 51 dance. In the second half of the eighteenth cen- mained a private man, although he led a public (1842) is similar to the first Impromptu in form tury the waltz became increasingly popular in Vi- life. In this respect he was the opposite of Liszt. and texture, but in this Impromptu the texture be- enna. By the end of the century it had become an All in all, Chopin played no more than thirty comes thicker as it proceeds. The key of G flat essential feature of court dances and composers concerts that were open to public (mostly in his major (six flats) and time signature of 12/8 are like Haydn and Mozart were commissioned to early 20s) and he detested the experience. He not often seen. The tempo indication is allegro ALSO AVAILABLE FROM NIMBUS ALLIANCE write waltzes for royal balls. was at home playing in aristocratic salons sur- Vladimir Feltsman • Beethoven Sonatas NI 6020 vivace (fast), which is a bit odd because of the Vladimir Feltsman • Chopin Nocturnes, Barcarolle, In the first half of the nineteenth century the rounded by a small and exclusive invited audi- density of the texture. The middle section is a re- Berceuse NI 6026 waltz became the most popular dance of all. ence, most of them his acquaintances. Chopin’s versed nocturne – the theme is in the bass and Vladimir Feltsman • Chopin 4 Ballades, Fantasie, Among Chopin’s contemporaries, such com- orientation was exclusive rather than inclusive. the accompaniment is in the right hand. The re- Polonaise-Fantasie NI 6028 posers as Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss In his art and in his life he was an aristocrat, not Vladimir Feltsman • A Tribute to Rachmaninoff NI 6148 capitulation is literal. Vladimir Feltsman • A Tribute to Tchaikovsky NI 6162 were writing waltzes almost exclusively. In a democrat. The last and the most popular work in the set is Vladimir Feltsman • Bach: The English Suites NI 6176 1819, Carl Maria von Weber brought the ball- The standard Chopin canon comprises fourteen the Fantasie-Impromptu in C sharp minor Op. room into the concert hall with his “Invitation to waltzes – thirteen under opus numbers and one 66 (1834). It is also written in a ternary form, www.feltsman.com • www.wyastone.co.uk the Dance.” Chopin used the waltz idiom very posthumous. Only eight of the Waltzes were pub- with a rather virtuosic texture in the first and last skillfully, making it his own; in spite of their tra- lished during his lifetime. It is said that in 1849 episodes and a contrasting middle section. This ditional form and conventions Chopin’s Waltzes Chopin on his deathbed instructed his publisher and friend Pleyel to destroy ALL of his unpub- was a common gesture before the waltz proper the manuscript was given in 1835. It seems mes- sation; by many reliable accounts he could im- lished works.