Mazurkas [Paperback] Review

This book is based on FR. Kistner Leipzig edition. Editor is Chopin's pupil Carl Mikuli foreword dated 1879, 30 years after chopin's death.
There are many other editions of Mazurkas which I personally prefer to this available but I rate this book as a important reference to learn what the composer was intended. The editor Carl Mikuli was Chopin's piano pupil and many times he witnessed the performance of composer himself which were only to those of close to him. (Chopin did only a handful of public concerts and recitals in his life) However, intimate accounts of how his (Chopin)fingers were shaped during the passages could only be used as a sentimental knowledges which has little use for today's performance standard.
Nonetheless, we could keep in mind that what composer himself tried to express and teach his students his music as a great way to express our feeling through these beautiful works. Many Mazurkas have only a few pages and many could be played by begining students.
There are discussions of how the Mazurkas should be played, outside this book but Mikuli himself did not address this matter. (Where should the Mazurka's accents have to be placed--and there is a accounts of Chopin and Meyerbeer arguing reported by other pupil von Lenz who was taking lessons of Mazurka.)
Convenient package of 1 book with this inexpensive price, with the cover portlait by Eugene Delacroix, also Chopin's close friend is a great buy for the piano students of all levels.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Mazurkas [Paperback]

Product Description:
Features 51 best-loved compositions, reproduced directly from the authoritative Kistner edition edited by Carl Mikuli, a pupil of Chopin. Editor's Foreword, 1879.

Get 15% OFF

Want to buy Mazurkas [Paperback] at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Nocturnes and Polonaises [Paperback] Review

Don't buy this edition if you are under the impression that it is The Paderewski Edition published by Dover. This is now the new Carl Mikuli edition published by G. Schirmer (perhaps the worst edition in the world) reprinted by Dover. Dover used to publish this from The Paderewski Edition; however, for some reason, it's gone out of print. If you can get your hands on an old copy of this from The Paderewski Edition, I would highly advise buying it! It's much better, and more true to Chopin's intentions. Even if you can't find an old Dover copy, The Paderewski edition is still published privately. Don't buy this edition, it's truly a waste of your money.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Nocturnes and Polonaises [Paperback]

Product Description:
One of the most respected editions of Chopin's works was prepared by Carl Mikuli, Chopin's student and teaching assistant. His editorial contributions to this volume reflect his understanding of the principles imparted to him in word and deed by the composer.The 20 nocturnes reproduced here include Opp. 9, 15, 27, 32, 37, 48, 55, 62, 72, and the posthumous Nocturne in C-sharp Minor. The 11 polonaises include Opp. 26, 40, 44, 53, 61,71, and the posthumous Polonaise in G-sharp Minor.Serious pianists will want to have these authoritative texts of 31 of Chopin's most popular and enduring works, reprinted from an authoritative early edition. New unified table of contents.

Get 15% OFF

Want to buy Nocturnes and Polonaises [Paperback] at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Preludes (Kalmus Edition) [Paperback] Review

This Alfred Complete Preludes edition is very good. It contains a lot of information about the preludes that you can't never find in other edition or not as much as this edition such as introductory or background. The music is well engraved so it can be read easily (important for very complex structure music. The footprints are also helpful and valuable. This is recommend for true musician that they don't perform only the music, but do understanding about music that they play too. The CD is also incredible. It can serve as for practical purpose or listening in your car or anywhere else. Alfred always offer the best quality with the fine price.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Preludes (Kalmus Edition) [Paperback]

Product Description:
No Description provided.

Want to buy Preludes (Kalmus Edition) [Paperback] at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

CHOPIN PRELUDES BK/CD SCHIRMER PERFORMANCE EDITIONS (Hal Leonard Student Piano Library) [Paperback] Review

I purchased this book for a 14 year old friend of mine. She was so excited!! She seems to really love the book and the fact that there is a CD to go with it. I purchased this version because it has the CD and the suggestions about interpretation and fingering.

Click Here to see more reviews about: CHOPIN PRELUDES BK/CD SCHIRMER PERFORMANCE EDITIONS (Hal Leonard Student Piano Library) [Paperback]

Product Description:
Schirmer Performance Editions are designed for piano students and their teachers as well as for professional pianists. Pedagogical in nature, these editions offer insightful interpretive suggestions, pertinent fingering, and historical and stylistic commentary. Prepared by renowned artists/teachers, these publications provide an accurate, well-informed score resource for pianists. The name Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) is synonymous with the piano. Indeed, every one of his compositions includes the instrument. His Preludes, several of which are of only moderate difficulty, show superb polish and inventive detail. Shaped by the tastes of the Parisian aristocratic salon, these pieces make the most of a pianist's technical and musical abilities, both in passages of virtuosity and in the variety of possibilities for emotional expression. Editor and recording artist: Brian Ganz

Want to buy CHOPIN PRELUDES BK/CD SCHIRMER PERFORMANCE EDITIONS (Hal Leonard Student Piano Library) [Paperback] at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Chopin - A Listener's Guide to the Master of the Piano: Unlocking the Masters Series [Paperback] Review

Amadeus Press has filled a underserved niche in the classical music literature with these marvelous little guides to the great composers and their greatest compositions.They fill the gap between the highly detailed, scholarly volumes of the lives of the great composers ... and the too-superficial tiny guides that offer too little program notes on the music or the composer.It gives you a compelling "play-by-play" description of each composition without venturing into musicology that would lose a beginner.The entire series is extremely well written and make a great guides to new discoveries.It should appeal to beginners as well as classical veterans alike.This Chopin volume is proving to be a valuable guide as I explore in depth Chopin's music and the great performances on disc.

Every major category is covered in satisfying depth to give you solid understanding of what is behind each work - and what in particular is historically and musically significant in them.ALl major works are covered: the lilting Waltzes .. the pensive and sometimes turbulent Nocturnes ... the weighty Sonatas, Scherzos and Ballades ... the delicate miniatures ... the amazing early piano concertos ... the showpieces, Etudes, Preludes and even the few chamber pieces of Chopin are explored to reveal many curious historic details.

This volume on Chopin makes for compelling reading and is one of the only modern volumes of program notes on the piano music of Chopin I could find.The number of works covered is large and satisfying with enough detail to give you a deep appreciation of the significance, musical structures and impact of each work.In a way, it reads much like program notes in a CD, but covering the entire range of Chopin's life and works.Other reviews below outline the range covered.The volume, supplemented by classic volume like Schonberg's "Lives of the Great Composers" should give a high quality education to the music of Chopin.This book includes a Naxos CD containing performances by Idl Bieret which gives a quality intro to Chopin, but some listeners will surely want to explore the great Chopin performances of pianists like Rubinstein, Horowitz, Kissin, Perahia, Argerich and many others.Bottom line: these "Unlocking the Masters Series" are a great investment to deepening one's appreciation that will not go out of style any time soon.5 stars.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Chopin - A Listener's Guide to the Master of the Piano: Unlocking the Masters Series [Paperback]

Product Description:
Frederic Chopin died a famous man with his place in the musical pantheon secure. Yet the works that were once most popular tended to be his lightest and least challenging, leading many listeners and critics to view him as a miniaturist and composer for the salon. The bold pieces now revered as his masterpieces-the epic and tragic structures of the ballades, scherzos, polonaises, and sonatas, and the compact but daring preludes and mazurkas-were rarely played and poorly understood. In fact, a larger proportion of Chopin's pieces are now in the active repertory than that of any composer. Chopin - A Listener's Guide to the Master of the Piano takes a detailed tour through the life and oeuvre of the sovereign master of the keyboard. The composer's metabolic adaptation of the melodic structures of Italian opera and the folk music of his native Poland for the resources of the piano are examined in detail, as are the originality and boldness he displayed throughout his tragically short, astonishing career. The book is accompanied by a CD containing 15 complete compositions (and one full movement from his Piano Sonata No. 2) performed by pianist Idil Biret, from her complete survey of the composer's music on the Naxos label.

Get 15% OFF

Want to buy Chopin - A Listener's Guide to the Master of the Piano: Unlocking the Masters Series [Paperback] at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Fantasy in F Minor, Barcarolle, Berceuse and Other Works for Solo Piano [Paperback] Review

Chopin's music is usually published by category--i.e. Mazurkas, Polonaises, Walzes, Etudes, etc. There are a number of works that don't fit into any of these categories such as the glorious and technically horrific Berceuse and the surprisingly easy to read but showy Tarentelle--not only gorgeous but a good exercise for technical proficiency.
This book is worth having just for the Berceuse and Tarantella, and also for the Barcarolle, another brilliant and showy work that is all too rarely played. This is a great addition to any piano music library, especially if you adore Chopin. Easy to read edition, clear print.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Fantasy in F Minor, Barcarolle, Berceuse and Other Works for Solo Piano [Paperback]

Product Description:
Features 15 works, including one of the greatest of the Romantic period, the Fantasy in F Minor, Op. 49, reprinted from the authoritative German edition prepared by Chopin's student, Carl Mikuli.

Get 15% OFF

Want to buy Fantasy in F Minor, Barcarolle, Berceuse and Other Works for Solo Piano [Paperback] at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Isidor Phillip - Exercises for Independence of Fingers - Book 1: Piano Technique (Piano Method) [Paperback] Review

Place your hand, completely relaxed, palm down flat on your desk. Now gently curl your middle finger back under your hand so that your hand will be slightly raised yet supported by your tucked under middle finger. Your thumb, index finger, ring finger and pinky should be extended outward and spread evenly. Raise up only your thumb. NO PROBLEM. Next your pinky..., now your index finger. Finally your ring finger. BIG PROBLEM. As a piano player your ring finger is by far your weak link in developing technical dexterity. This book with it's exercises changes that! A must for anyone wishing to become a serious player. And don't forget book two of this series! Practice on!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Isidor Phillip - Exercises for Independence of Fingers - Book 1: Piano Technique (Piano Method) [Paperback]

Product Description:
Isidor Phillip - Exercises for Independence of Fingers - Book 1

Want to buy Isidor Phillip - Exercises for Independence of Fingers - Book 1: Piano Technique (Piano Method) [Paperback] at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

The Complete Preludes & Etudes: For Solo Piano [Paperback] Review

Speaking of correcting misinformation, this is definitely *not* the Paderewski edition. The Mikuli and Paderewski editions are certainly not the same, although if you look in the commentary in the back of any Paderewski Chopin score, you will find that the Mikuli is one of the many sources that were consulted for the Paderewski.

Dover used to publish a reproduction of the Paderewski edition years ago, and it was wonderful. Unfortunately, they no longer seem to do so.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Complete Preludes & Etudes: For Solo Piano [Paperback]

Product Description:
Chopin's piano works are of such uniformly high quality that they are all absolutely essential in the repertoire of any aspiring pianist. The Preludes and Etudes are exquisitely beautiful examples of his genius. Numbering 52 pieces in all, they are reproduced here from the authoritative Mikuli edition and are available for the first time in a low-priced, one-volume publication. The opus listings are: 25 Preludes-Op. 28, Nos. 1-24; Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 45. 27 Etudes-Op. 10, Nos. 1-12; Op. 25, Nos. 1-12; and Trois Nouvelles Etudes Unabridged (1998) republication of works from an authoritative early edition. New unified table of contents.

Get 20% OFF

Want to buy The Complete Preludes & Etudes: For Solo Piano [Paperback] at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below: