Pianist Alice Sara Ott offers a complete set of Chopin’s preludes for piano here, in order, but framed and interspersed with short contemporary piano compositions. These appear at the beginning and end (the latter composed by Ott) and then after each group of four preludes. The concept isn’t one that Chopin or Liszt would have found too unfamiliar, and Ott is a strong Chopin pianist with the ability to draw listeners in without being excessive about tempo rubato. Try one of the famous pieces like the Prelude No. 4 in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4, which has a fresh feeling despite the work’s ubiquity. Ott suggests extramusical associations for both the Chopin pieces and the modern works, and while, of course, her reactions are her own, it may be that this device works a bit less well for the preludes than for Chopin’s works in other genres. More than other Chopin works, the preludes are intricately technical pieces, with some of the most daring harmonic moves in the whole Chopin canon. In this technical sense, though, Ott’s program succeeds beautifully. In her hands, the range of Chopin’s influence in the 20th century is revealed to be startlingly wide, extending from the cinematic semi-pop of Nino Rota and Chilly Gonzales to Ligeti’s modernism to Arvo Pärt’s minimalism. The whole program has a delightful sense that one is exploring Chopin and then pausing periodically to look forward in time as if to see what hidden secrets time might reveal in his music. A typically imaginative release from this fine pianist.

曲目:
1  Tristano: In The Beginning Was
2  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 1 in C Major. Agitato
3  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 2 in A Minor. Lento
4  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 3 in G Major. Vivace
5  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 4 in E Minor. Largo
6  Musica ricercata : I. Sostenuto. Misurato. Prestissimo
7  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 5 in D Major. Molto allegro
8  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 6 in B Minor. Lento assai
9  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 7 in A Major. Andantino
10  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 8 in F Sharp Minor. Molto agitato
11  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 9 in E Major. Largo
12  Rota: Valzer
13  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 10 in C Sharp Minor. Molto allegro
14  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 11 in B Major. Vivace
15  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 12 in G Sharp Minor. Presto
16  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 13 in F Sharp Minor. Lento
17  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 14 in E Flat Minor. Allegro
18  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 15 in D Flat Major. Sostenuto “Raindrop”
19  Gonzales: Prelude in C Sharp Major
20  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 16 in B Flat Minor. Presto con fuoco
21  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 17 in A Flat Major. Allegretto
22  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 18 in C Minor. Molto allegro
23  Litany (In Memory of Michael Vyner) : I. Adagio
24  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 19 in E Flat Major. Vivace
25  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 20 in C Minor. Largo
26  Pärt: Für Alina
27  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 21 in B Flat Major. Cantabile
28  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 22 in G Minor. Molto agitato
29  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 23 in F Major. Moderato
30  24 Preludes, Op. 28 : No. 24 in D Minor. Allegro appassionato
31  Ott: Lullaby To Eternity (on fragments of W.A. Mozart’s “Lacrimosa”)
32  The Well-Tempered Clavier / Book 1, BWV 846-869 / Prelude & Fugue in C Major, BWV 846 : I. Prelude (Grand Piano)
33  Field: Prelude in C Minor (Grand Piano)
34  Field: Largo in C Minor (Grand Piano)
35  Chopin: Prelude in A-Flat Major, KK IVb/7
36  Chopin: Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 45
37  Gonzales: Contretemps
38  Naive Music : No. 6, Prelude
39  Distant Music : No. 3, Prelude
40  Field: Prelude in C Minor (Upright Piano)
41  Field: Largo in C Minor (Upright Piano)