Dinu Lipatti’s Chopin Waltzes Still in Print

Dinu Lipatti gave his final recital, which was recorded, on 16 September 1950 in Besançon, France. Despite severe illness, he gave unmatched performances of Bach’s Partita in B flat major, Mozart’s A minor Sonata, Schubert’s G flat major and E flat major Impromptus, and thirteen of Chopin’s 14 Waltzes. He excluded No. 2, which he was too exhausted to play; he offered instead Myra Hess’ transcription of Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, the piece with which he had started his professional career as a pianist in 1935. He died less than 3 months later, in Geneva.

Dinu Lipatti had a brief, incandescent career cut short by disease. Lipatti’s playing was hailed as having reached the highest degree of integrity and pianistic technique, which he employed in the quest for musical perfection. Lipatti is particularly noted for his interpretations of Chopin, Mozart and Bach, but he also made recordings of Ravel’s Alborada del Gracioso, Liszt, Enescu, the Schumann Piano Concerto, and the Grieg Piano Concerto. His recording of Chopin’s Waltzes has remained in print since its release and has long been a favorite of many classical music-lovers. He brought to Chopin a searching intellect allied with an infallible sense of rhythm and a technique utterly at the service of his musical ideals. One could continue to throw adjectives at Lipatti’s playing without ever capturing the feeling of “rightness” that permeates it. His audiences were moved by something they felt as spiritual.

Chopin Valse no. 5 in A flat major
Chopin Valse no. 10 in B minor
Chopin Valse no. 13 in D flat minor
Chopin Valse no. 2 op 34-1 B94
Chopin valse no. 14 in E minor

Chopin Waltzes – Sheet music to download and print:

During the MIDEM international music industry trade fair 2010 two prizes were given to two albums of Chopin’s recordings. The statuettes were attributed to the late Romanian artist Dinu Lipatti and to the Russian pianist Nikolai Demidenko. Special Chopin Awards is a new category of prizes established to honour the ongoing Chopin Year. The Special Chopin Award – Best Ever for the best recording of Chopin’s works in the history of music industry was attributed posthumously to Dinu Lipatti’s album with 14 waltzes, Barcarolle, Nocturne in D flat Major and Mazurka in C sharp minor.

The album at Amazon.com:
Chopin: Waltzes 1- 14, Original Recording Remastered