Chopin, F.: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 Sa Chen & Gulbenkian Orchestra

• 1 I. Allegro maestoso 20:38
• 2 II. Romanza: Larghetto 09:56
• 3 III. Rondo: Vivace 10:08
• 4 I. Maestoso 14:51
• 5 II. Larghetto 09:36
• 6 III. Allegretto vivace 08:52
• Total Runtime 01:14:01

Info for Chopin, F.: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2

Recorded in Lisbon in July 2008, the Chopin Piano Concerti were accompanied by the Gulbenkian Orchestra under the directorship of Lawrence Foster. This release revisited a close relationship between Chen Sa and the Polish composer; together, the musicians expressed themselves in one unified language, a language easily mistaken to be their mother tongue. The Chopin Concerti were signatures in the musical canon that highlighted Ms. Chen at the peak of her artistic excellence: from her fluent exchange of alternating dialogues with the orchestra in the first movement of the E Minor Concerto, to her splendid sense of the folk mazurka in the exuberant finale movement of the F Minor Concerto, sandwiched between two sugar-sweet Larghetto movements where our pianist released the emotional high points with nascent unrequited love, full-bodied with endless poetry. How stunning also was the orchestral tremolandi in the Larghetto of the F Minor Concerto, as an anxious storm of emotion swirled by the poet's songlike recitative. Throughout the two compositions, the music danced and ebbed as required; here was a level of musicianship from Ms. Chen as “playing like an angel from heaven.” Surely, these examples would have justified why this recording easily rivalled in excellence the recent release of the pianist’s compatriot Lang Lang.

“Possessed of exceptional talent and a grasp of Chopin’s melancholic lyricism both instinctive and thoughtful, Sa Chen is a natural in this repertoire……Chopin’s gently logical harmonies hang in the air just long enough to catch the falling arabesques, cushioning them gently before launching them off again to explore the wistful inner reaches of delight.” (International Piano)

Sa Chen, Piano
Gulbenkian Orchestra
Lawrence Foster

Sa Chen - Piano
Sa Chen (Chén Sà) (born 1979 in Chongqing, China) is a Chinese classical music pianist. She won first prize in the 1994 China International Piano Competition and fourth place in the 2000 International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition and a prize in the Leeds International Piano Competition. Furthermore, she was a third place winner in the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Both of her parents were members of an art troupe in the People's Liberation Army, and later transferred to the Performing Arts Group of Chongqing City. Her father played the French horn, and her mother was a ballet dancer.

She began to study the violin at the age of five, but soon switched to piano. Her first piano teacher was Dan Zhaoyi, who also taught Yundi Li, and she pursued further studies with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She also received coaching from Fou Ts'ong for a period after the 1996 Leeds Piano Competition. [1] Chen has performed with conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin and Long Yu among others. Musicians she has performed with include Gidon Kremer and Nicolai Znaider. She currently resides in Hanover, Germany.

Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra
It was in 1962 that the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral group, initially made up of only twelve members (strings and basso continuo), originally called the Gulbenkian Chamber Orchestra. This ensemble became progressively larger, the Gulbenkian Orchestra (as it has been known since 1971) having today 66 permanent members, which number may be expanded according to the needs of the programmes presented.

This structure, unusual nowadays and situated between chamber and symphonic dimensions, enables the Gulbenkian Orchestra to perform a substantial repertoire, including the entire classical period, a significant part of the orchestral literature of the 19th century, and a great deal of 20th century music. Works belonging to the repertoires of traditional symphony orchestras, such as the orchestral output of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann, may thus be given by the Gulbenkian Orchestra in versions closer to the orchestral ensembles for which they were originally conceived, in terms of their internal sound structure.

In each season, the Orchestra gives a regular concert series in the Large Auditorium at the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, within which context it has had occasion to collaborate with some of the best-known names in the world of music (conductors and soloists), also performing in other areas of Portugal, thereby contributing significantly to decentralization.

In addition, the Orchestra has gradually increased its international activity, having toured in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. During the current season, a tour to Spain is planned, with the mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager (March 2010), the performance in Paris of the opera The Flowering Tree (2006), by the American composer (20 March 2010), and a return visit to the Bad Kissingen Festival, in Germany (July 2010). In the following season, the Gulbenkian Orchestra will return to Paris, for a concert in the Salle Pleyel with the pianist Aldo Ciccolini (18 October 2010), to which plans other projects will be added.

In terms of recordings, the name of the Gulbenkian Orchestra is associated with, amongst others, the Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus and Lyrinx labels, and has won a number of prestigious international prizes.

Among its most recent recording projects should be mentioned the collaboration with Lise de La Salle, in a recording of the first piano concertos by Liszt, Shostakovich and Prokofiev (Naïf), and with Sa Chen, in a recording of the two piano concertos by Chopin (Pentatone), both projects under the directions of Lawrence Foster. More recently, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, under the baton of Joana Carneiro, has recorded a disc entirely of music by Tchaikovsky, which will shortly be commercially available. New recording projects include, in November 2009, two discs, again for Pentatone: the first will be Salieri's Requiem (a world première), and the second will contain works by Ligeti, Kodály e Bartók. Since the 2002-2003 season, Lawrence Foster has been the artistic director of the orchestra, also being Titular Conductor. Claudio Scimone, who occupied this position between 1979 and 1986, was in 1987 appointed Honorary Conductor, while Simone Young and Joana Carneiro have been Principal Guest Conductor and Guest Conductor since the 2007-2008 and 2006-2007 seasons, respectively.

Lawrence Foster - Conductor
currently holds the positions of music director of Orchestre et Opéra National de Montpellier and artistic director and chief conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra. Lawrence Foster has appeared in major opera houses throughout the world. He works regularly at Hamburgische Staatsoper, with recent productions having included Pélléas et Mélisande, Der Freischütz and Carmen. Future plans in Hamburg include Pique Dame in 2011/12 and The Cunning Little Vixen in 2013/14. In 2011 he returns to Opéra de Marseille for Wozzeck and will also conduct the world première of Die Marquise von O by René Koering for Opéra de Monte Carlo. He will make his debut with Oper Frankfurt with a production of Khovanschina in 2012/13.

Orchestral highlights of this season include appearances with NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, the Residentie Orkest, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and Tivoli Symphony Orchestra. He also has an ongoing relationship with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; appearances with them in 2011 include the Kissinger Sommer Festival and touring in 2012.

Future highlights include concerts with MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de Espana. He will also appear at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and will take the Gulbenkian Orchestra to the Enescu Festival in September 2011.

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