V2: Late Piano Works

JIN JU

For her Chopin debut on MDG Jin Ju was awarded the highest honors from the top authorities: the jury of the Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin. It is only every five years that these guardians of the Chopin legacy come together to distinguish a mere four extraordinary recordings. Now this Chinese pianist blessed with a special interpretive sense celebrates her induction into this illustrious circle with a continuation and a rarity – and invites you to join her! Chopin’s third Piano Sonata, an enigmatic and gigantic work eschewing everything normally associated with a sonata forms the centerpiece e. It instead has episodes of nocturne character, extended static harmonic expanses, and ballads of fairy tale magic that Jin Ju knows how to narrate with great intensity. The many little pieces, above all the mazurkas, only seemingly form a contrast to this work. Plain and simple on the surface, these sometimes very short miniatures reveal an entire cosmos of associations. This is hardly surprising: Chopin’s extant sketchbooks show with what great precision he worked on these pieces during the last years of his life. The Largo from the Cello Sonata, Chopin’s last finished composition, is an interesting rarity, and Jin Ju plays it in a version for piano solo by Alfred Cortot, whose standard-setting Chopin interpretations have influenced generations of pianists and music enthusiasts. The perfectly maintained “Manfred Burki” Steinway concert grand piano and the recording technology are on the same high level as the loving selection and performance: this high-resolution, three-dimensional Super Audio album is dressed for success- let’s party!

Price: $22.99