IGNACY JAN PADEREWSKI (1860-1941): Piano Sonata in E Flat Minor, Op. 21, Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme in A Minor, Op. 11, Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme in E Flat Minor, Op. 23.
Catalogue Number: 10J058
Label: Hyperion
Reference: CDA 67562
Format: CD
Price: $18.98
Description: Continuing the vein of large-scale, post-Lisztian piano writing exhibited in the sonata (which has several recordings in the modern period), but taken to even more adventurous heights, the half-hour Op. 23 variations (1903) is Paderewski's most extreme statement in piano writing. He never attempted anything on this scale again. Full of pianistic inventiveness and drama, this is an unforgettably powerful piece. The earlier set of variations from 1885, half of Op. 23's length, is a much simpler, Brahmsian exercise. Jonathan Plowright (piano).