Info:
Ashkenazy Plays Chopin - duration: 47’ 00”
Ashkenazy Plays Beethoven - duration: 52’ 00”
Year of production: 1972
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In the event, the experiment proved an unqualified success and the soundtrack of Ashkenazy Plays Chopin was released by Decca Records on a commercial disc.
In each film there is a brief introduction followed by an interview with Ashkenazy about his thoughts on the pieces that he is about to perform. The first film continues with the two Nocturnes Opus 15 Nos 1 and 2 and the B minor Funeral March Sonata Opus 35. It ends with two encores, the Mazurka in A flat Opus 59 no 2 and the Grand Valse Brillante in E flat Opus 18.
In the second film, Ashkenazy plays Beethoven’s sonata No. 8 in C minor Opus 13 (The Pathétique) and Sonata No. 31 in A flat Opus 110.
These are historic documents of a great musician at a significant moment in his career.
In 1972, when Vladimir Ashkenazy was at a new peak both in his playing and in his career, we planned with him to shoot two recitals for television, one Chopin and one Beethoven.
For quite some time, Ashkenazy had been extremely reluctant to perform in television studios, and rightly so, since they are not the best places in which to make music.
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110
1st movement: Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
Chopin’s, Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor, Op. 35
3rd movement: Marche funèbre
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