Chopin: Pr¿¿ludes, Fantaisie, Berceuse & Barcarolle

by Abdel Rahman El Bacha

Overview

Pianist Abdel Rahman El Bacha is something of a Chopin specialist, and he recorded the Preludes, as well as other major Chopin works, for the Forlane label some years ago. Now, he is returning to some of them, at least, on Mirare, with excellent sound from the Ferme de Villefavard, an acoustically superior farmhouse in Limousin. He has been around the block with Chopin, and he has what it takes to propose a distinctive interpretation of his familiar works in the face of abundant competition. Consider the Preludes, which he takes very much as a set. He realizes the obvious but underappreciated fact that some of these pieces can be and are often played by average home pianists, but others are quite virtuosic. In the main, El Bacha takes the former group quite straight, with little in the way of tempo rubato or highly expressive dynamics. Sample the Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4. The effect of this is to direct the listener's attention to the harmonic content of the pieces, which is often strikingly modern. In the more technically difficult Preludes, El Bacha hones a hard, brilliant edge, and he has the chops to do so. The result as a whole is unusually stressed, restless Chopin, oddly unromantic but both fully thought through and, as usual, marvelously executed. One should sample the album well, but one should by no means dismiss it. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	12/30/2022
Label:	Mirare
UPC:	3760127225270
Rank:	169657

Tracks

1. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Agitato
2. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Lento
3. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Vivace
4. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Largo
5. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Molto allegro
6. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Lento assai
7. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Andantino
8. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Molto agitato
9. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Largo
10. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Molto allegro
11. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Vivace
12. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Presto
13. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Lento
14. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Allegro
15. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Sostenuto - 'Raindrop'
16. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Presto con fuoco
17. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Allegretto
18. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Molto allegro
19. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Vivace
20. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Largo
21. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Cantabile
22. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Molto agitato
23. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Moderato
24. Pr¿¿ludes Opus 28~Allegro appassionato
25. Fantaisie Opus 49
26. Berceuse Opus 57
27. Barcarolle Opus 60

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Abdel Rahman El Bacha   Primary Artist,Piano

Technical Credits

Frederic Chopin   Composer
Hughes Deschaux   Artistic Director,Editing,Engineer
Francois-Rene Martin   Concept,Artistic Supervision
Denijs de Winter   Tuning
Hilla Maria Heintz   Liner Note Translation
Christopher Bayton   Liner Note Translation
Clemence Burgun   Concept,Artistic Supervision
Jean-Michel Bouchet   Design
Rene Martin   Artistic Supervision,Concept
Claire Delamarche   Liner Notes
Marco Borggreve   Photography