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The Chopin I Love on CD

SOMM Recordings is delighted to collaborate once again with one of the foremost pianists of our time, Peter Donohoe. A joint winner of the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Donohoe has performed with all the major London orchestras and multiple European and American orchestras, as well as at the BBC Proms no less than 18 times. His impressive discography on SOMM includes the complete Prokofiev and Scriabin Sonatas, as well as the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas. "Donohoe appears to take early Beethoven as his interpretive trajectory with a gloves-off spontaneity that imbues these magical scores with a compelling vitality and freshness..." (BBC Music Magazine, Choice) "Donohoe plays these pieces with a personal involvement that is as touching as it is fascinating and finely considered." (Gramophone)

Donohoe also recorded with SOMM the highly regarded 2nd and 3rd Sonatas (2023) and Waltzes (2024) by Chopin. Now, this latest release is The Chopin I Love, a title he borrowed from one of the most formative recordings of his youth, an LP of Arthur Rubinstein. Donohoe's personal selections represent works which have always resonated very much with him, as well as representing some of the most challenging, unique, and significant repertoire for piano ever written.

The most substantial works in this collection are the Preludes, Op. 28, whose technical demands place them firmly amongst Chopin's most virtuosic works. Although Chopin did not necessarily intend for all 24 Preludes-one in each key-to be played as a group, they are performed here as a complete cycle, which makes for a fascinating and satisfying listening experience. Chopin wrote a further single Prelude, Op. 45, which is a longer and more detailed study than the individual numbers in the Opus 28 set, with the exception of the "Raindrop" Prelude.

Chopin's Barcarolle, Op. 60, inspired by the rocking rhythm of the traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers, is another of his more demanding compositions. It is also one of his last major compositions, along with his Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61. Chopin's distinctive sound often includes the national flavour of his native Poland, and this piece takes it's character from the Polish dance, while the fantaisie provides it's harmonic complexity and intricate form.

For Peter Donohoe, the 2 Nocturnes, Op. 62, are the culmination of the musical form, these intimately expressive works being Chopin's final compositions in the genre. The 3 Écossaises, Op. 72 No. 3, which close this recital, were amongst the first pieces Donohoe ever knew and were therefore seminal for him. He says, "That they are much less serious than any of the other works here does not detract from their originality and charm."

Included as a download is Donohoe's performance of Chopin's Berceuse, a lullaby he composed late in life, which remains one of the composer's most beloved pieces.