大象传媒

Donald Macleod explores Chopin鈥檚 final days in London, as the composer's strength begins to fail.

Chopin made just two trips to Britain, both in later life. These visits are often portrayed as a disaster - a calamitous mistake of no worth to Chopin which hastened the composer鈥檚 death. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod explores these two trips in depth, during which the virtuoso pianist gave six of the thirty public concerts he gave during the whole of his life, and also made many private appearances meeting the great and the good of British society. In the final programme of the week, Donald explores the concert Chopin gave in Manchester, where he played in front of the largest audience of his life, and his final days in London before returning to Paris. The composer鈥檚 waning health was again exacerbated by the polluted London air, but he did manage to find the strength for one last performance at a charity gala. It would be the last concert he ever gave.

Piano Concerto no. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 鈥� III. Allegro Vivace
Evgeny Kissin (piano)
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Dmitri Kitayenko (conductor)

Ballade no.4 in F minor, op.52
Murray Perahia (piano)

Sonata no 2 in B flat minor, Op.35
Marc-Andr茅 Hamelin (piano)

Etudes, op.25 no. 1 in A-flat Major 鈥淎eolian Harp鈥�, and no. 2 in F minor
Zlata Chochieva (piano)

17 Polish Songs, Op.74`13 鈥淣ie ma czego trzeba鈥� (I Want What I Have Not) - transcribed for Cello and piano by S. Isserlis
Steven Isserlis (cello)
D茅nes V谩rjon (piano)

Producer: Sam Phillips