Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op 13 (Chopin) - from CDS44351/66 - Hyperion Records

Reviews

‘Hyperion's big deal … Ohlsson is a powerful and committed player, and is afforded very good sound by the engineers … this is almost certainly how these pieces were played in Chopin's time’ (The Mail on Sunday)

‘This is an oustanding achievement, which any genuine Chopin lover and student of Romantic music should own … a landmark in the recording of Chopin's music … Garrick Ohlsson and Hyperion deserve the greatest success in bringing this important undertaking to such a consistently impressive conclusion’ (International Record Review)

‘An attractively priced box set … Ohlsson is in a class of his own’ (Pianist)

‘The collaborative works receive particularly rewarding performances … Ohlsson arguably offers more consistent artistry than Biret, Ashkenazy, Magaloff, and Harasiewicz’ (Classics Today)

‘Garrick Ohlsson’s complete survey of everything Chopin wrote for piano (including chamber music, songs, and for piano and orchestra) will delight the completist and the Chopin connoisseur. Ohlsson (who won the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1970) gives us accounts of this wondrous repertoire in weighty and commanding style, aristocratic and impulsive (but not lacking light and shade or contemplative contrasts) and, at times, very sensitive and searching. These vivid recordings were made in the second half of the 1990s and have previously appeared on the Arabesque label. They now sit very well in Hyperion’s catalogue’ (Classical Source)

Chopin referred to the Fantasy on Polish Airs in A major Op 13 as ‘the Potpourri on Polish Themes’. He was clearly fond of the work and kept it in his repertoire for many years despite the incidental contribution of the orchestra and the somewhat clumsy welding together of the different sections. All eyes are on the soloist. A slow introduction gives way to a plaintive Andantino (a folk song titled ‘Juz miesiac zaszedl’—‘Already the moon has set’) and two brilliant variations, followed by a theme from an opera by Karol Kurpinski, leading to a rousing conclusion with a kujawiak (a popular dance similar to the mazurka).

Chopin lui-même voyait en cette Fantaisie sur des airs polonais en la majeur op. 13 un «Pot-pourri sur des thèmes polonais». À l’évidence, il adorait cette pièce, qu’il garda longtemps à son répertoire, malgré le rôle accessoire de l’orchestre et le soudage un peu gauche des différentes sections. Tous les regards sont braqués sur le pianiste. Une introduction lente cède la place à un plaintif Andantino (un chant traditionnel intitulé «Juz miesiac zaszedl», «Déjà la lune s’est levée») et à deux variations brillantes, suivies d’un thème tiré d’un opéra de Karol Kurpinski menant à une conclusion entraînante, avec une kujawiak (danse identique à la mazurka).

Chopin selbst beschrieb seine Fantaisie sur des airs nationaux polonais in A-Dur op. 13 als „das Potpourri über polnische Themen“. Er war offensichtlich angetan von dem Werk und behielt es viele Jahre lang in seinem Repertoire trotz des doch eher beiläufigen Orchesterparts und der irgendwie unbeholfenen Verbindungen der einzelnen Teile. Der Pianist steht ganz im Mittelpunkt. Nach einer kurzen Einleitung folgt ein klagendes Andantino (ein Volkslied mit dem Titel „Juz miesiac zaszedl“, „Der Mond ist schon untergegangen“) und zwei brillante Variationen. Ein Thema aus einer Oper von Karol Kurpin´ski schließt sich an, das in einen Schluss mit einem Kujawiak mündet (einem Volkstanz ähnlich der Mazurka).

Recording details: June 1997
National Philharmonic Concert Hall, Warsaw, Poland
Produced by Andrzej Sasin
Engineered by Andrzej Sasin & Andrzej Lupa
Release date: November 2008
Total duration: 15 minutes 0 seconds

Cover artwork: Frédéric Chopin in concert at the Hotel Lambert, Paris (1840). Antar Teofil Kwiatowski (1809-1891)
Bibliothèque Polonaise, Paris / Archives Charmet / Bridgeman Images

Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op 13

Garrick Ohlsson (piano), Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazimierz Kord (conductor)

Reviews

Introduction