Twenty-Five (DVD)

After a break from the Chopin Op. 10 études and Godowsky studies, David Stanhope returns to some of the most fiendish piano repertoire: the Godowsky Studies on Chopin's Études, Op. 25.

David Stanhope piano

Frédéric Chopin composer
Leopold Godowsky composer
Franz Schubert composer
Johann Strauss II composer
Carl Tausig arranger

Written to show technical possibilities then barely imagined at the keyboard, these works still startle modern listeners, and they remain a formidable challenge for any pianist. The left-hand Studies in particular open new ground. The full set was filmed across the sessions, with illustrated commentaries by the performer, who demonstrates that the music can be played as written, without technical shortcuts.

This DVD presentation includes introductions to every group of pieces.

Artists

David Stanhope

David Stanhope is an Australian conductor, composer and pianist whose career also takes in horn and bass trombone. He has led opera, ballet, film scores and orchestras across Australia, and is widely known for his wind-band and brass writing.

Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period. He wrote almost exclusively for the piano and remains one of its defining poetic voices.

Leopold Godowsky

Godowsky's Studies on Chopin's Études turn already demanding pieces into labyrinths of counterpoint, left-hand bravura and interlocking textures. His Passacaglia and Schubert song paraphrases share the same dense, glittering pianism.

Tracks

Chopin Op. 25 No. 1 A-flat major
Godowsky No. 23, 1st version A-flat major (left hand alone)
Godowsky No. 24, 2nd version A-flat major
Godowsky No. 25, 3rd version A-flat major

Chopin Op. 25 No. 2 F minor
Godowsky No. 26, 1st version F minor
Godowsky No. 27, 2nd version F minor “Waltz”
Godowsky No. 28, 3rd version F minor (octaves version)
Godowsky No. 28a, 4th version F-sharp minor

Chopin Op. 25 No. 3 F major
Godowsky No. 29, 1st version F major
Godowsky No. 30, 2nd version F major (left hand alone)

Chopin Op. 25 No. 4 A minor
Godowsky No. 31, 1st version A minor (left hand alone)
Godowsky No. 32, 2nd version F minor & D-flat major “Polonaise”

Chopin Op. 25 No. 5 E minor
Godowsky No. 33, 1st version E minor
Godowsky No. 34, 2nd version C-sharp minor “Mazurka”
Godowsky No. 35, 3rd version B-flat minor (left hand alone)

Chopin Op. 25 No. 6 G-sharp minor
Godowsky No. 36 G-sharp minor

Chopin Op. 25 No. 8 D-flat major
Godowsky No. 38 D-flat major

Chopin Op. 25 No. 9 G-flat major
Godowsky No. 39, 1st version G-flat major
Godowsky No. 40, 2nd version G-flat major (left hand alone)

Chopin Op. 25 No. 10 B minor
Godowsky No. 41 B minor (left hand alone)

Chopin Op. 25 No. 11 A minor
Godowsky No. 42 A minor

Chopin Op. 25 No. 12 C minor
Godowsky No. 43 C-sharp minor

Encore 1 Schubert–Godowsky “Morgengruss”
Encore 2 Strauss–Tausig “Man Lebt Nur Einmal”

Performers

David Stanhope · commentator

Composers

Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. In only thirty-one years he left a vast body of work, including over six hundred Lieder, and remains among the most frequently performed composers.

Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II wrote the waltzes, polkas and operettas that fixed three-quarter time at the centre of nineteenth-century dance music, from The Blue Danube and Tales from the Vienna Woods to Die Fledermaus.

Carl Tausig

Carl Tausig (1841–1871) was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer. In a career cut short at twenty-nine he stood among the leading piano virtuosi of the nineteenth century.

Contributors

cover image

Belinda Webster

Belinda Webster is the founder of Tall Poppies Records and a leading Australian producer and recording engineer whose work has documented classical, contemporary and jazz performance across decades of catalogue releases.

piano technician

David Ricketts

DVD mastering

Fats Digital

Where to listen

Twenty-Five (DVD) is available as a DVD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.