Release Date: October 13, 2017
Catalog #: NV6123
Format: Digital & Physical
Romantic
Solo Instrumental
Piano

Notturno

Frédéric Chopin composer
Eliane Rodrigues piano

Navona Records’ NOTTURNO: The Complete Nocturnes and Ballades of Chopin is a fresh look at some of the Polish composer’s most expressive works. The nocturnes and ballades are also some of Chopin’s most innovative works, displaying exciting advancements in harmony, rhythm, and form—all renewed in pianist Eliane Rodrigues’s nuanced, thoughtful performances, recorded in Sacilie, Italy’s acoustically advanced Fazioli Concert Hall.

Although he didn’t invent the piano nocturne, Chopin popularized it and certainly improved it beyond a mere character piece. He was heavily influenced by the sensuous melodies of bel canto opera arias, and developed a freer sense of rhythm and expression—as a result, the nocturnes exude an abstract mood or atmosphere. Chopin did, however, invent the piano ballade—a genre with its own distinct forms and qualities. His four ballades most directly contrast the nocturnes in their abstract narrative style—very different from “mood” pieces, they were likely inspired by poems by Adam Mickiewicz.

Taking a page from Chopin’s own unwritten ballade narratives, Rodrigues includes text by Jantien Brys to accompany each nocturne, each one telling a sort of story without sacrificing the essential atmospheric nature of the nocturne. She writes, “For me, the Nocturnes are like a diary of Chopin, so Jantien wrote the texts as if they were excerpts from a fictional diary of his.” Rodrigues’s performances, influenced by these new texts, bring the listener a new kind of emotional connection to Chopin and music.

Listen

Hear the full album on YouTube

Artist Information

Eliane Rodrigues

Pianist

From an early age, it was noticeable that Rio de Janeiro-born pianist ELIANE RODRIGUES was a child prodigy: she started composing at three years old, played her first recital at five, and performed with an orchestra at the ages of six and seven. From then on, she won prizes at numerous regional and national competitions, going on to win the special prize at the Van Cliburn Competition in the United States when she was just 18. She came in fifth place at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1983 and was elected as the people’s number one favorite in 2020, a vote consisting of the top 30 most memorable moments of the competition’s history.