A Chopin Diary (Complete Nocturnes) Claire Huangci

• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Complete Nocturnes:
• 1 Nocturne No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9: I. Larghetto 05:19
• 2 Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 9: II. Andante 04:05
• 3 Nocturne No. 3 in B Major, Op. 9: III. Allegretto 06:38
• 4 Nocturne No. 4 in F Major, Op. 15: I. Andante 04:24
• 5 Nocturne No. 5 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 15: II. Larghetto 03:11
• 6 Nocturne No. 6 in G Minor, Op. 15: III. Lento 03:45
• 7 Nocturne No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27: I. Larghetto 05:03
• 8 Nocturne No. 8 in D-Flat Major, Op. 27: II. Lento sostenuto 05:39
• 9 Nocturne No. 9 in B Major, Op. 32: I. Andante sostenuto 04:31
• 10 Nocturne No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 32: II. Lento 04:42
• 11 Nocturne No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 37: I. Andante sostenuto 05:42
• 12 Nocturne No. 12 in G Major, Op. 37: II. Andantino 05:32
• 13 Nocturne No. 13 in C Minor, Op. 48: I. Lento 06:10
• 14 Nocturne No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 48: II. Andantino 06:41
• 15 Nocturne No. 15 in F Minor, Op. 55: I. Andante 04:58
• 16 Nocturne No. 16 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55: II. Lento sostenuto 05:03
• 17 Nocturne No. 17 in B Major, Op. 62: I. Andante 07:26
• 18 Nocturne No. 18 in E Major, Op. 62: II. Lento 05:16
• 19 Nocturne No. 19 in E Minor, Op. 72 (Posthum): I. Andante 03:51
• 20 Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor (Posthum): Lento 03:58
• 21 Nocturne No. 21 in C Minor (Posthum): Andante 02:47
• 22 Nocturne Oubliée in C-Sharp Minor: Larghetto 06:11
• 23 Étude No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 25: Lento 05:33
• Total Runtime 01:56:25

Info for A Chopin Diary (Complete Nocturnes)

Claire Huangci proves herself to be a vividly expressive interpreter of Chopin, the first since Artur Rubinstein to offer a complete cycle of the Nocturnes by Frédéric Chopin. During her background research work into Chopin’s oeuvre she repeatedly came across poems by French authors such as Charles Baudelaire, Victor Hugo and Tristan Corbière. She began to form associations and found a poem contemporary to each of Chopin’s nocturnes. You will find the links between poetry and music in the CD booklet. Claire Huangci herself explains:

“They may add a further dimension to your listening pleasure, so that everyone can conjure up an image of what I see as I play. I do hope that these lovely verses will act as an impetus to allow listeners’ fantasy to take flight and to create their very own Chopin diary.”

This approach is proof of Claire Huangci’s artistic maturity – an approach that will open up new avenues in our appreciation of Chopin.

Frédéric Chopin was a special pioneer in Claire Huangci’s eyes. The child prodigy became acquainted with his works at a very young age and grew up with them. They were decisive to her personal development and artistic career, which took off at an early stage on an international level thanks to concert performances, arts grants and a host of awards. This resulted in a virtuoso life of short-distance and long-haul flights, juggling appearances at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Osaka’s Symphony Hall or the Gewandhaus in Leipzig with life at home in Philadelphia. She has played with a host of orchestras including the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony and the Moscow Radio Symphony. Accompanying her on her journey, so to speak, were not just her teachers, such as Eleanur Sokoloff, Gary Graffman and Arie Vardi, but the composer Frédéric Chopin: she owes her artistic breakthrough to his music. Time and again she has analysed, documented and profiled Chopin. Claire Huangci has brought together all of this experience and these insights on her new album, forming them into a “Chopin Diary”.

The Nocturnes are the epitome of Chopin’s artistic work. They attest to the composer’s emotions on the cusp of the Romantic era and are simultaneously evidence of a restless life that hung between his artistic popularity, his dire state of health and an uncertain future. Composed in an atmosphere of domestic security, as night fell, they reflect his stimulating artistic day-to-day life. They are deemed to be perfect in form, combining all stylistically defining moods in a virtuosic form that to this day is unsurpassed. Some of the total of 21 Nocturnes form part of the standard repertoire for young pianists, yet Claire Huangci’s approach to them is a highly personal, unique one:

“With her differentiated agogic approach and superior technique, Claire Huangci proved that she is now the most expressive Chopin performer of her generation,”

according to Gerd Kurat of the Südkurier newspaper. She rounds off the programme with the Nocturne Oubliée and the Etude in C sharp minor, recorded together with cellist Tristan Cornut.

Claire Huangci, piano

Claire Huangci
Over the years, the young American pianist of Chinese descent has succeeded in establishing herself as a highly respected artist, leaving behind her role of the celebrated child prodigy who once gave a private concert for President Bill Clinton at the age of ten. Claire Huangci captivates audiences with her “radiant virtuosity, artistic sensitivity, keen interactive sense and subtle auditory dramaturgy” (Salzburger Nachrichten).

Claire Huangci began her international career at the age of nine with grants, concert performances and prizes – most recently she was the youngest participant to receive second prize at the International ARD Music Competition (2011). Only in her later teenage years did she finally feel more and more that this instrument was to be her vocation. She received significant input from her teachers Eleanor Sokoloff and Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia before studying under Arie Vardi at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover. She has assisted Professor Vardi since spring 2016. Chopin’s music gave Claire Huangci her artistic breakthrough in 2009 when she won first prize at the International Chopin Competition in Darmstadt, as well as in 2010 at the Chopin Competition in Miami. She has since proved her great versatility with an unusually broad repertoire, which includes a large number of contemporary works. Claire Huangci has performed in solo recitals and as a partner with international orchestras such as the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (under Sir Roger Norrington), Münchner Kammerorchester, China Philharmonic Orchestra and Vancouver, Santa Fe, Moscow Radio and Istanbul State Symphonies at international concert venues that include Carnegie Hall, Tonhalle Zurich, Konzerthaus Berlin, Gasteig Munich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, la Salle Cortot, Oji Hall Tokyo and the Symphony Hall in Osaka. She has also made guest appearances at festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, Verbier Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer and the Schwetzinger SWR Festival.

Her debut album, which was released in 2013 featuring recordings of solo works by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev on the Berlin Classics label, earned widespread praise. A second solo album was released on the same label in 2015 showcasing sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, for which the pianist selected 39 of the 555 sonatas and presented them in Baroque suites and classical sonatas. In so doing, she illustrates Scarlatti’s transition through music history. The recording was awarded the German Record Critics’ Award and “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone magazine: “This is Scarlatti artistry of the highest order. (…) It’s gratifying to have followed Huangci’s progression from a 16-year-old prodigy to a 25-year-old artist poised for greatness”.

Booklet for A Chopin Diary (Complete Nocturnes)