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VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY | A Personal Collection
ARTISTS
Vladimir Ashkenazy, pianist & conductor
TRACK LISTING
J.S. BACH: Concerto No.1 in D minor, BWV 1052
J.S. BACH: Prelude & Fugue No.24 in B minor, ( Das Wohltempierte Clavier I BWV 869 )
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No.24 in F sharp major, Op.78
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No.23 in F minor, Op.57 'Appassionata'
BEETHOVEN: No.4 in B minor Presto (Bagatelles, Op.126)
MOZART: Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat major, K271
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor, Op.15
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata in D major, D850
CHOPIN: Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op.60
CHOPIN: Ballade No.4 in F minor, Op.52
CHOPIN: Scherzo No.4 in E minor, Op.54
CHOPIN: Nocturne, Op.15 No.2 in F sharp major
CHOPIN: Nocturne Op.55 No.2 in E flat major
SCHUMANN: Kreisleriana, Op.16
R. STRAUSS: Don Juan
TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet -- Fantasy Overture
TCHAIKOVSKY: Méditation, Op.72 No.5
RACHMANINOV: Melody, Op.21 No.9
LISZT: Mephisto Waltz No.1
LISZT: Feux follets
RAVEL: Gaspard de la nuit
RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, Op.30
PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor, Op.16
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op.47
SIBELIUS: Symphony No.2 in D major, Op.43
SCRIABIN: Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op.20
SCRIABIN: Piano Sonata No.4 in F sharp major, Op.30
BONUS CD
Vladimir Ashkenazy in conversation with Christopher Nupen
July 2007 marks the 70th birthday of Vladimir Ashkenazy.
This set has been compiled with the full co-operation of the artist from his enormous catalogue of recordings for Decca and embraces his work as one of the most acclaimed pianists of his generation as well as his work for more than twenty-five years as a conductor. This personal collection also focuses on those composers who are of particular significance for Ashkenazy and which have been reflected both on record and in the concert hall during his career.
A very special feature of this set is the inclusion of a bonus interview disc in which Ashkenazy talks about his career and music. This extensive interview (it lasts almost 80 minutes) has been specially recorded in January 2007 and the interview was conducted by the acclaimed film director Christopher Nupen (he has directed many classical music documentaries and filmed Ashkenazy in concert and in the studio on many occasions.
Ashkenazy made his first recording for Decca in March 1963 - Rachmaninov's monumental Third Piano Concerto - a recording which has achieved reference status and which is included here. This was the time he defected from Russia and came to live in London, shortly after achieving worldwide fame when he was joint winner (with John Ogdon) of the Second International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1962; it marked the start of a recording and concert career which has scarcely been matched by any other pianist for the sheer breadth of repertory.
A few weeks after recording Rachmaninov's Third Concerto Ashkenazy recorded his equally legendary Tchaikovsky First Concerto -- another recording which has achieved reference status. During the course of his more than forty years with Decca as a pianist there have been complete cycles of concertos by Mozart (directed from the keyboard), Beethoven (three cycles: with Solti, Mehta, and from the keyboard), Rachmaninov (two complete cycles: with Previn and Haitink), Prokofiev (with Previn), Bartók (with Solti) as well as other concertos by Schumann, Chopin, Scriabin. His recordings of solo repertory have been extensive, with major surveys of Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich as well as recent additions such as a very enthusiastically received recording of Bach's Well-tempered Clavier .; 2007 sees the release of a major Beethoven work which Ashkenazy has recorded for the first time: the 'Diabelli' Variations.
Ashkenazy's repertory as a conductor is huge and this collection includes some works by composers he is closely identified with and for which he feels a particular affinity: Shostakovich, Sibelius, and Richard Strauss.
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