FRYDERYK CHOPIN

Fryderyk Chopin is one of the most delicate 19th-century music poets, a distinctive and amazing Polish composer and pianist. He is an artist of the greatest imagination, having perceived and immortalised in his music the spirit of his time and aggrandized the image of Poland. He chose piano as the vehicle for communication. What he revealed in the art of the piano is tantamount to the discoveries of his contemporaries in the field of symphonic and operatic music. Chopin’s mazurkas, polonaise, waltzes, preludes, etudes, nocturnes, impromptu, ballads, scherzos and sonatas reign in the repertoire of pianists all over the world. Chopin was not a symphonist, but he has produced two opuses that belong to the field of symphonic music. These are piano concerti written in his youth. They do not resemble Beethoven’s works of this genre; rather, they are lyrical poems in which uplifting feelings flow out via endless melodies and intricate passages. The First Concerto in E minor, Op. 11, written in 1830, is marked by a depth of feelings and a range of moods. Full of determination, the opening of the first movement is written in the polonaise idiom; the affectionate main theme is followed by the second, briming with noble pathetics. Filled by expressive virtuosity, the development is crowned by a vibrant recapitulation. The composer named the second movement a romance. The intricately woven songful melody gleams with lyrical finesse. The finale, a traditional rondo, is a virtuoso, temperamental, gushing dance.

Chopin’s First Concerto of exquisite beauty features pianist Mūza Rubackytė, the winner of the Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize, and the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra led by Robertas Šervenikas.