CCMusic.com

For years, Margarita Höhenrieder was searching for the authentic sound of Frédéric Chopin's piano works. Which instrument of it's time most convincingly reflected Chopin's music? Chopin himself had given the answer in 1831: "Pleyel's instruments are the non plus ultra"! The choice for the recording therefore fell on a Pleyel fortepiano, built around 1855 in Paris and expertly restored using historical materials and methods. It is absolutely identical in construction to the instrument Chopin owned and thus represents an authentic sound testimony. The recording location was also of particular importance: the Mazurkas on the release were recorded on this instrument, in a room comparable to a salon from around the middle of the 19th century. The orchestra "La Scintilla " also played on period instruments under the direction of Riccardo Minasi. The recording of the E minor concerto with the historical version by Jan Ekier then took place on another Pleyel of about the same year of construction, in the acoustically outstanding Oberstrass church in Zurich. Margarita Höhenrieder's careful recreation of the authentic Chopin sound gives the listener highly interesting insights into music history.