专辑简介

In 1960 the world of music celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Chopin, undeniably the most poetic if not the greatest composer of music for the piano. Chopin was born in Poland, of a French father and Polish mother. He spent his manhood in Paris and met his untimely death there in 1849, leaving his spirit in an eternal bondage with France. But posterity has accepted, without much argument, these opening words of a necrology, published shortly after Chopin’s death, in which the Polish poet Kamil C. Norwid described his departed compatriot as “a Pole at heart, in talent a citizen of the world.” The artist of this special anniversary recital is also a Pole, Adam Harasiewicz, winner of the Chopin International Competition of 1955, a Chopin specialist and one of the outstanding virtuosi to have emerged during the post-war years. He is heard in a program – recorded at an actual concert – that represents the musical forms which gained new meaning through association with Chopin’s overwhelming creative personality: the Polonaise, the Nocturne, the Ballade and the Mazurka. Polonaise in C Sharp Minor, Opus 26, No. 1 As shown by this example, in Chopin’s hands the Polonaise, originally a processional dance, was transformed into a poetic affirmation of the composer’s patriotism. After a determined, almost fierce, opening there follow contrasting passages of turbulence and lyricism without ever losing sight of the music’s rhythmic profile and national character. Nocturne In F Sharp, Opus 15, No. 2 Chopin did not invent the Nocturne – a musical evocation of night’s moods and soft mysteries – but he perfected the form and filled it with a richness of poetic imagination no other composer could duplicate. Of the eighteen examples in the form none excels the Nocturne In F Sharp, with its contrasted themes of tenderness and agitation, and its ending of heavenly calm. Scherzo In C Sharp Minor, Opus 39 The word ‘Scherzo’ implies humor and mockery. Chopin, however, often poured bitterness and sarcasm into his impassioned Scherzi. Of the four he wrote, Opus 39 is the most dramatic, full of bold statements, sweeping arpeggios, culminating in a final passage of violent abandon. Ballade No. 1 In G Minor Chopin wrote four Ballades, deriving his inspiration from the poems of his compatriot Michiewicz. In these musical expressions of poetic narratives, however, Chopin never followed the literary content very closely. He developed, instead, his own poetry through imagery of sound. The G minor Ballade is one of the composer’s finest inspirations. Mazurkas Like the Polonaises, the Mazurkas also gained a new meaning with Chopin. A dance in triple meter, the Mazurka is often thought of as Poland’s answer to the waltz. A mellow melancholy is their characteristic feature. Contrary to the more extended form of the Ballade and Scherzo, Chopin’s mazurkas are short – like the three examples here – but embrace an amazing variety of moods and expressiveness.