CHOPIN: Piano Sonatas No.2 - Preludes

Catalog Number: RRC1120
Label: Regis Records
Format: CD

Categories: Instrumental Music
Budget Periods: Romantic

Composers: Frédéric Chopin
Performers: Howard Shelley

Available: 0
Price: $8.99

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 "Funeral March"
Preludes 1-24, Op. 28

Howard Shelley, piano

	Track Listing	Time
	Sonata No. 2, Op. 35
1	Grave	7:09
2	Scherzo	6:19
3	Marche funèbre	9:25
4	Presto	1:35
	Preludes, Op. 28
5	No. 1 in C major	0:47
6	No. 2 in A minor	2:05
7	No. 3 in G major	0:58
8	No. 4 in E minor	2:02
9	No. 5 in D major	0:43
10	No. 6 in B minor	2:00
11	No. 7 in A major	0:44
12	No. 8 in F minor	1:52
13	No. 9 in E major	1:17
14	No. 10 in C sharp minor	0:35
15	No. 11 in B major	0:35
16	No. 12 in G sharp minor	1:19
17	No. 13 in F sharp major	3:04
18	No. 14 in E flat minor	0:35
19	No. 15 in D flat major	5:11
20	No. 16 in B flat minor	1:10
21	No. 17 in A flat major	3:10
22	No. 18 in F minor	0:58
23	No. 19 in E flat major	1:19
24	No. 20 in C minor	1:35
25	No. 21 in B flat major	1:37
26	No. 22 in G minor	0:43
27	No. 23 in F major	1:07
28	No. 24 in D minor	2:36

"I for one prefer Howard Shelley's performance here...Overall, he finds an impressive blend or virtuosity and personal insight. Both the B flat minor Sonata and the Preludes are equally successful. The Sonata opens with a fast and temperamental tempo after the initial bars and Shelley never loses his cool and keeps a firm grasp on the structure. This is a powerfully mascline style that also can adapt to the quiet lyricism of Chopin...musical thoroughness can be heard in the eerie finale, where pedalling and deftly varied touch manage to create all the different colours. Shelly eschews spontaneity and...does not shirk from observing Chopin's tempos."
Gramophone