Pianist Rafał Blechacz is returning with beautiful, ecstatic and very colorful French/Polish chamber music repertoire. For his first ever chamber music recording on DG he teams up with the supreme musicianship of Korean violinist Bomsori Kim.

Polish melancholy and French elegance are connecting to a wonderfully symbiotic relationship in music, a point well illustrated by the works of Frédéric Chopin, who, Polish by birth, settled in France.

For their first album together Bomsori Kim and Rafał Blechacz decided to combine pieces from both of those countries.

Rafal's playing is characterized by its elegance, delicacy, and a poetic solemnity that has invited comparison to legendary pianists including Krystian Zimerman, who is a Blechacz supporter.

Bomsori is a celebrated young stellar artist in Korea who is on the way to the top of the international violin scene.

They will perform repertoire from the album live on tour at venues in South Korea and Europe next spring.

This album will be released in connection with the DG120 celebrations.

Bomsori Kim (violin), Rafal Blechacz (piano)

Composers

Chopin, Frédéric François (1810-49)
Debussy, Claude Achille (1862-1918)
Fauré, Gabriel Urbain (1845-1924)
Szymanowski, Karol (1882-1937)

Works

Chopin: Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor, Op. post.
Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor
Fauré: Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 13
Szymanowski: Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 9

Debussy's music reveals characteristics that justifiably move it into the proximity of Impressionist painting, as it produces moving paintings, landscapes of sound, and soundscapes in the narrowest sense of the word that can draw the listener into the middle of the picture.

Maurice Ravel's String Quartet, completed in 1903, had to be and was compared with Debussy's quartet. At the same time, it can be seen here how Ravel's musical diction - based on Debussy's - prepared the way for French Modernism.

Like only a few of his colleagues, the Briton Thomas Adès, born in 1971, is capable of fusing traditional elements from music history, including obvious references to existing compositions, with modern sound production, into an individual style appealing directly to the listener.

Composers

Adès, Thomas (b.1971)
Debussy, Claude Achille (1862-1918)
Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937)

Works

Adès: Arcadiana
Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10
Ravel: String Quartet in F major

Live from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Ludwigsburg International Music Festival, 2012

Güher Pekinel (piano), Süher Pekinel (piano)
Zubin Mehta

Composers

Bartók, Béla (1881-1945)
Brahms, Johannes (1833-97)
Debussy, Claude Achille (1862-1918)
Infante, Manuel (1883-1958)
Lutosławski, Witold (1913-94)
Milhaud, Darius (1892-1974)
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-91)
Poulenc, Francis (1899-1963)
Schubert, Franz Peter (1797-1828)

Works

Bartók: Concerto for 2 pianos, percussion & orchestra, BB 121, Sz. 115
Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor
Debussy: En blanc et noir
Lutosławski: Variations on a Theme by Paganini, for two pianos
Milhaud: Brazileira from Scaramouche
Mozart: Sonata for 2 pianos in D major, K448
Poulenc: Elegie
Schubert: Fantasie in F minor for piano duet, D940

Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Barenboim

Composers

Debussy, Claude Achille (1862-1918)

Works

Debussy: La Mer
Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Debussy: Trois Nocturnes

“I was lucky to grow up in a country where we can enjoy silence. To get to the mountains, to hear a brook running, a bird singing, that's really music for me” Leif Ove Andsnes

Awards
Gramophone Magazine November 2006 Editor's Choice

Composers

Albéniz, Isaac (1860-1909)
Antheil, George (1900-59)
Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750)
Chopin, Frédéric François (1810-49)
Debussy, Claude Achille (1862-1918)
Grieg, Edvard Hagerup (1843-1907)
Halvorsen, Johan (1864-1935)
Ibert, Jacques (1890-1962)
Liszt, Ferencz (1811-86)
Mendelssohn, Felix (1809-47)
Mompou, Federico (1893-1987)
Scott, Cyril (1879-1970)
Scriabin, Alexander Nikolayevich (1872-1915)
Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-75)
Sibelius, Jean (1865-1957)
Smetana, Bedrich (1824-84)
Strauss, Richard (1864-1949)
Trenet, Charles (1913-2001)

Works

Albéniz: Tango (No. 2 from Espana, Op. 165)
Antheil: Toccata No.2 (1948)
Bach, J S: Chorale Prelude BWV639 'Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ'
Chopin: Impromptu No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 29
Debussy: Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque)
Grieg: Humoresque, Op. 6 No. 3
Grieg: Moods, Op. 73
Halvorsen: Chant de Veslemoy
Ibert: Le petit âne blanc (from Histoires)
Liszt: Liebestraum, S541 No. 3 (Nocturne in A flat major)
Liszt: Meine Freuden (Nocturne)
Liszt: Valse-Impromptu, S.213
Mendelssohn: Song without Words, Op. 67 No. 2 in F sharp minor
Mompou: Cancion y danza No. 1
Mompou: El Lago (Le Lac)
Scott, C: Lotus Land, Op. 47 No. 1 (W183)
Scriabin: Impromptu 1, Op. 14
Shostakovich: Polka from The Golden Age, Op. 22
Sibelius: Etude, Op. 76, No. 2
Smetana: Etude 'At the seashore'
Strauss, R: Ständchen, Op. 17 No. 2
Trenet: Chanson “Coin de rue”

arrangements by Nora Mercz

Janos Balint (flute), Nora Mercz (harp)

Composers

Bizet, Georges (1838-75)
Chopin, Frédéric François (1810-49)
Debussy, Claude Achille (1862-1918)
Durand, Marie Auguste (1830-1909)
Gluck, Christoph Willibald (1714-87)
Massenet, Jules Emile Frederic (1842-1912)
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-91)
Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937)
Rimsky Korsakov, Nikolay Andreyevich (1844-1908)
Schuecker, Edmund (1860-1922)
Strauss, Johann (1825-99)
Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-93)

Works

Bizet: Carmen
Bizet: Carmen: Entr'acte to Act III (Intermezzo)
Bizet: L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2: III. Minuet
Chopin: Variations on Rossini's 'Non piu mesta' in E major
Debussy: En bateau (from Petite Suite)
Debussy: Petite Suite
Durand, M A: Chaconne in A flat minor
Durand, M A: Première Valse Op. 83
Gluck: Dance of the Blessed Spirits (from Orfeo ed Euridice)
Massenet: Meditation (from Thaïs)
Massenet: Thaïs
Mozart: Andante in C major, K315 for flute and orchestra
Ravel: Vocalise-étude en forme de habanera
Rimsky Korsakov: Song of the Hindu Guest (from Sadko)
Schuecker: Mazurka in E flat minor, Op. 12
Strauss, J, II: Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, Op. 214
Tchaikovsky: Morceaux (6), Op. 51
Tchaikovsky: Valse sentimentale, Op. 51 No. 6