CLASSICAL MUSIC - NICOLAS ECONOMOU: CHOPIN

The talented Greek pianist Nicolas Economou was killed in a car crash, aged only forty. In this recroding from the Munich Kongressaal, Economou displays his trademark sensitivity of interpretation in his performance of Frédéric Chopin’s Four Ballades Op. 23, 38, 47, 52 for solo piano and the composer’s famous Scherzo in B flat minor Op.31.

The Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 is the first of Frédéric Chopin's four ballades for solo piano. It was composed in 1835-36 during the composer's early days in Paris and is dedicated to "Monsieur le Baron de Stockhausen," Hanoverian ambassador to France. It is generally considered to be the most popular of Chopin's four ballades.

Chopin cited the poet Adam Mickiewicz as an influence for his ballades (this according to a rumour based on a remark by Robert Schumann concerning the genesis of Chopin's second ballade). The exact inspiration for each piece is not clear.

The music is built from two main themes, the first introduced in bar 7 after the short introduction, and the second in bar 69. Both themes return in different guises. The piece is in compound duple time (6/4) except for the short introduction (in 4/4) and the coda (in 2/2). Sections of the piece are technically demanding, requiring complex fingering, wide chords, octaves, extremely fast chords, and even a section of opposite-going chromatic octaves near the end. Its complex structure combines ideas from sonata and variation forms.

The Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38 is the second of the four ballades for piano solo by Frédéric Chopin. It was composed from 1836 to 1839 in Nohant, France and on the Spanish island of Majorca. Chopin dedicated this work to Robert Schumann, who had dedicated his Kreisleriana, Op. 16 to Chopin.

This ballade, as with the following two ballades, is in 6/8 time signature. (The first ballade is in a different signature: 6/4.) It opens quietly, on repeated Cs with F major being the clear tonic key. The introductory motif maintains a soft, lyric tone which is complemented by an SATB type arrangement and the performance instruction "sotto voce" (literally "under the voice" or hushed). The section concludes with a gentle perfect cadence.

In stark contrast to the first section, the second section of the ballade opens with a dramatic A minor arpeggioed outburst marked "presto con fuoco" ("fast with fire"). Although clearly differing in tempo and key, these two contrasting sections are actually united through subtle melodic and rhythmic variations of the initial motif.

The ballade concludes with a recapitulation of the "presto con fuoco" section; this time in D minor and races into a coda in the dominant A minor key. Suddenly, it stops, and the opening barcarolle-like melody is briefly echoed, this time in a minor key. The ballade concludes, never returning to its tonic key of F major.

Rubinstein interpreted this piece as "Flower-Storm-Flower", with the Flower broken at the end.

The Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47 is Chopin's third ballade, dating from 1841. It is dedicated to Mlle. de Noailles. The ballade takes from six to eight minutes to play. The long ending is typical of Romantic music, though the last ending is rather short, containing the chords C major, F minor, E-flat 7, and A-flat major. It, along with the first and second ballades, is considered to be easier than the fourth. However, from a musical standpoint, this piece is by no means easy. The performer must be able to capture the grace and elegance as well as maintaining poise throughout the whole piece. The last sections of the piece also contain some tricky passages.

The Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 is the fourth and final of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's ballades for solo piano. It was composed in 1842 in Paris, France and Nohant, France and revised in 1843. The work was dedicated to Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild's wife , who had invited Chopin to play in her Parisian estate, where she introduced him to the aristocracy and nobility.

This ballade is considered to be one of the most musically intense and technically demanding of Chopin's compositions and requires exceptional pianistic ability to be executed accurately

Source Wikipedia