Field Nocturnes (míċeál O'rourke)

Following her critically acclaimed coupling of the Britten & Barber Piano Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth Joy Roe enlightens the extraordinary world of John Field. Field, an Irish composer, is regarded as the "Father of the Nocturne" who predates Chopin. This release is the first recording of all 18 Nocturnes on a single album.

This recording, along with the forthcoming Vol.2, represents a first, comprehensive anthology of the Russian nocturne in its nearly two-hundred-year development. Some nocturnes are recorded here for the first time. The earliest Russian nocturnes were composed by Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857) and owe a debt to his teacher, the Irish composer John Field. The first, in E flat, was written in 1828 before his first trip to Italy. His Nocturne in F minor ‘La Séparation’, written at the height of his career, is styled like a ‘romance’ (song) without words.

¤ Ever since winning first prize at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1960 Maurizio Pollini has been considered as one of the world’s finest Chopin interpreters

¤ Along with Chopin’s two piano concertos, Pollini has recorded many other Chopin's compositions exclusively for DG. These include: Complete Etudes and Préludes, Scherzi, Polonaises, Sonatas No. 1 & 2. The most recent Chopin disc, released in 1999, included the four ballads, the Fantasia op. 49 and the Prélude in C sharp minor op. 45

¤ At present Pollini has recorded all Nocturnes by Frédéric Chopin which were published during the composer's lifetime. The Nocturnes demonstrate a great diversity and difficulty of Chopin’s art, and this recording highlights many a refinement of Pollini’s playing.

¤ Pollini described his ability to play Chopin with more freedom than before with the following: “After I won the First Prize of the Chopin Composition in Warsaw, Chopin became an important part of my life.” This recording inextricably marks a milestone in the history of Chopin’s Nocturnes.

This 6CD set charts not only the development of the Nocturne as a musical form, but also the development of the piano from the closing years of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. Two great ‘piano schools’ had emerged, each having some of the greatest performers and composers of the day associated with them. Some of these composers were highly successful businessmen as well – Clementi and Pleyel in particular established highly successful piano manufacturing and music publishing firms. The English school, with its powerful instruments (of which the pianos of John Broadwood and Co are the best examples) enabled London based composers such as Cramer, Clementi and Dussek to write music with a singing almost bel canto quality.