Introduction - The Chopin Collection: CD Series
Angela Lear's performances of Chopin's compositions are based on her extensive research into his autograph manuscripts and all available related sources - and feature many rarely heard variants. The original variants are wide ranging and govern Chopin's precisely expressed performance directions.Angela Lear's published article on Interpreting Chopin is given on the Interpreting Chopin page.
BBC Music Magazine (Performance Awarded 5 Stars)
Chopin held strong opinions about the performance of his music and the directions he left in his manuscripts are so specific that it’s astonishing how far modern performance has departed from his stated intentions. Most pianists over-dramatise his music, playing it too loudly and too fast, with scant attention to phrasing and dynamics and with inappropriate pedalling. Inaccuracies have crept into some of the more readily available printed editions.
Chopin experts have long sought to remedy the situation and to recapture an authentic style of playing – among them Angela Lear.
Her Chopin alongside other performances, even by some of the most respected pianists, is a revelation. Hear what Chopin really intended
Angela Lear began her concert career at the age of twelve. After winning numerous competitions she studied at the Royal Academy of Music (London) with Professor Guy Jonson (Senior Piano Professor and former pupil of Cortot and Rachmaninov). After winning a Gold Medal she had a brief period of study with Nadia Boulanger and subsequently worked for over three years with Louis Kentner CBE. It was Kentner who introduced her to the importance of researching into Chopin’s autograph manuscripts and original source materials due to the discrepancies found in various edited publications – a subject which continues to be her life-long devotion. Her Chopin CD series, The Chopin Collection, has received critical acclaim.
Angela has performed throughout the UK and abroad extensively giving recitals at international concert venues, including concerts for Chopin Societies worldwide. She has also had the rare privilege of being invited by the Chopin Society of Warsaw to give return concerts at the Castle Ostrogski and the composer’s birthplace in the manor house at Zelazowa Wola. Her revelatory lecture recitals are also very much in demand, following her ‘live’ broadcasts on radio and television.
“Angela Lear enshrines all that is best in Chopin playing.”
BBC Music Magazine [Awarded 5 stars for Performance]