‘The Chopin Masters’: 28 CD Box Set Announced

The Chopin Masters, featuring the great Chopin pianists from the past to the present, will be released as a 28 CD limited edition box set by Deutsche Grammophon on 17 September 2021. The collection features many of the most legendary Chopin pianists of all time including 8 Chopin Competition winners.

Deutsche Grammophon has been a home for both established Chopin interpreters and emerging talents, including an impressive number of Warsaw Chopin Competition prizewinners, throughout its history.

The Chopin Masters features laureates of the Chopin Competition

The Chopin Masters features laureates of the Chopin Competition including the great pianists Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Rafal Blechacz, Michel Block, Stanislav Bunin, Seong-Jin Cho, Halina Czerny-Stefanska, Yundi Li, Ivo Pogorelich, Maurizio Pollini, Dang Thai Son, Fou Ts’ong and Krystian Zimerman.

Includes rare recitals and best-selling albums

The Chopin Masters features rare recitals, best-selling albums, and many recordings that have been released on CD for the first time. The collection includes the first ever release of Maria Joao Pires’ recording of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under André Previn from 1991; the first release on CD of recordings by Stefan Askenase (CD4), Michel Block (CD9), Halina Czerny-Stefanska (CD13), Julian von Karolyi (CD17), Dang Thai Son (CD24), Roberto Szidon (CD25), Fou Ts’ong (CD26); and the first international release on CD of recordings by Adam Harasiewicz (CD16).

About Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin (1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He was one of the great masters of Romantic music and wrote primarily for solo piano. Chopin was born in the small village of Zelazowa Wola, in the Duchy of Warsaw, to a Polish mother and French-expatriate father, and was a child prodigy pianist. Among the influences on his style of composition were Polish folk music, the classical tradition of JS Bach, Mozart and Schubert and the atmosphere of the Paris salons of which he was a frequent guest. Chopin invented the concept of the instrumental Ballade and his major piano works also include Sonatas, Mazurkas, Waltzes, Nocturnes, Polonaises, Études, Impromptus, Scherzos and Préludes, some published only after his death. No other composer has contributed as many significant works to the piano’s repertoire.

The Chopin Masters – Repertoire

CD 1 Géza Anda
Préludes op. 28 ∙ Polonaise op. 53
CD 2 Martha Argerich (Chopin Competition Winner 1965)
Préludes opp. 28, 45 & op. posth. in A flat major
Piano Sonata No. 2 op. 35
CD 3 Vladimir Ashkenazy (Second Prize Chopin Competition 1955)
Piano Concerto No. 2 op. 21
Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra
Zdzislaw Gorzynski Conductor
Ballade op. 38 ∙ Études opp. 10/1 & 25/3
Mazurkas opp. 41/4 & 30/4 ∙ Scherzo op. 54
CD 4 Stefan Askenase
Waltzes opp. 18, 34, 42, 64, opp. posth. 69, 70, KK IVA/15
Polonaises OPP. 53 & 40
CD 5 Daniel Barenboim
Nocturnes OPP. 9/2, 15, 27/1, 32/1, 37, 48, 55/1, 62/2 & op. post. 72/1
CD 6 Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Mazurkas OPP. 67/2, 56/2, 67/4, 68/2, 68/1, 33/1, 30/3, 30/2, 33/4 & 68/4
Prélude op. 45 ∙ Ballade op. 23 ∙ Scherzo op. 31
CD 7 Lazar Berman
Polonaises opp. 26, op. 40, 44 & 53
CD 8 Rafał Blechacz (Chopin Competition Winner 2005)
Piano Concerto No. 1 OP. 11 ∙ Piano Concerto No. 2 op. 21
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Jerzy Semkow Conductor
CD 9 Michel Block (Arthur Rubinstein Prize at the Chopin Competition 1960)
Piano Sonata No. 2 op. 35
Polonaise op. 53 ∙ Prélude op. 28/17
Mazurkas opp. 56/3, 59/2 & 30/4 ∙ Waltz op. 34/1
CD 10 Stanislav Bunin (Chopin Competition Winner 1985)
Impromptus opp. 29, 36, 51 & 66
Waltzes opp. posth. / KK IVA/14, KK IVA/13, KK IVA/12
Écossaises op. 72 ∙ Mazurkas opp. 30/2, 41/1, 63/3, 56/2, 67/3 & 67/4
Polonaise-Fantaisie op. 61
CD 11 Shura Cherkassky
Polonaises opp. 26, 40, 44, 53 & 61
CD 12 Seong-Jin Cho (Chopin Competition Winner 2015)
Préludes op. 28 ∙ Nocturne OP. 48/1
Piano Sonata No. 2 op. 35 ∙ Polonaise op. 53
CD 13 Halina Czerny-Stefańska (Chopin Competition Winner 1949)
Mazurkas opp. 6/2, 63/3, 67/4, 68/2, 17/4 & 33/3
Ballades opp. 23 & 52
Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante op. 22
CD 14 Christoph Eschenbach
Préludes opp. 28, 45 & op. posth. in A flat major
CD 15 Emil Gilels
Piano Sonata No. 3 op. 58
Polonaises opp. 40 & 53
CD 16 Adam Harasiewicz (Chopin Competition Winner 1955)
Nocturne op. 62/1 ∙ Mazurkas opp. 63/3 & 67/4
Ballade op. 23 ∙ Études opp. 25/11 & 25/6 ∙ Mazurka op. 50/3
Polonaise op. 53 ∙ Impromptu op. 51 ∙ Prélude op. 45
CD 17 Julian Von Károlyi
Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante op. 22
Piano Sonata No. 3 op. 58 ∙ Boléro op. 19
Mazurka op. 17/4 ∙ Waltz op. posth. / KK IVA/15
Ballades opp. 23, 38, 47 & 52
CD 18 Yundi Li (Chopin Competition Winner 2000)
Piano Sonata No. 3 op. 58
Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante Op. 22
Études op. 10/2, 10/5 & 25/11 ∙ Nocturnes opp. 9/1, 9/2 & 15/2
“Fantaisie-Impromptu” op. 66
CD 19 Maria João Pires
Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 11 | FIRST RELEASE
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
André Previn Conductor
Nocturnes op. 9/1, 9/2, 15/2 & 27/2
CD 20 Mikhail Pletnev
Fantaisie op. 49 ∙ Waltzes opp. 34/1, 34/2 & op. Posth. / KK IVA/15
Écossaise op. 72/3 ∙ Impromptu op. 29
Études opp. 10/5, 25/6 & 25/7 ∙ Piano Sonata No. 3 op. 58
CD 21 Ivo Pogorelich
Piano Sonata No. 2 op. 35 ∙ Prélude op. 45
Scherzo op. 39 ∙ Nocturne op. 55/2 ∙ Études opp. 10/8, 10/10 & 25/6
CD 22 Maurizio Pollini (Chopin Competition Winner 1960)
Études opp. 10 & 25
CD 23 Ruth Slenczynska
Études opp. 10 & 25 ∙ Impromptus opp. 29, 36, 51 & 66
CD 24 Dang Thai Son (Chopin Competition Winner 1980)
Nocturnes opp. 15/2 & 27/1 ∙ Waltz op. 34/2
Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante op. 22
Mazurkas opp. 24/2 & 67/2
Ballade op. 52 ∙ Scherzo op. 31
CD 25 Roberto Szidon
Scherzi opp. 20, 31, 39 & 54
Impromptus opp. 29, 36, 51 & 66
CD 26 Fou Ts’ong (Third Prize Chopin Competition 1955)
Mazurkas opp. 6/3, 7/2, 17/2, 17/4, 24/1, 24/2, 24/4, 30/1, 30/2, 33/4, 41/1,
50/3, 56/3, 59/1, 67/4, 68/2, 68/4 & op. posth. / KK IIB/4
Préludes op. posth. / KK IVB/7 & 45
Berceuse op. 57
CD 27 Tamás Vásáry
Waltzes opp. 18, 34, 42, 64, opp. posth. 69 & 70, KK IVA/15, KK IVA/12, KK IVA/13, KK IVA/14
Mazurkas op. posth. / KK IVA/7, opp. 67/3, 68/2 & 7/1
Polonaise op. 53
Introduction and Variations on the song ‘Der Schweizerbub’ op. posth. / KK IVA/4
CD 28 Krystian Zimerman (Chopin Competition Winner 1975)
Ballades opp. 23, 38, 47 & 52
Barcarolle op. 60 ∙ Fantaisie op. 49

The Chopin Masters will be released on 17 September 2021 and can be pre-ordered here.

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