Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year 2017! (Vol. 7, No. 10)

May your year 2017 be full of Chopin's delicate touch of romantic sweetness!

Here are some waltzes to celebrate the holidays! 

Nineteen waltzes played by a Hungarian Pianist Zoltan Kocsis:

00:00 01-Grande Valse Brillante Op.18
04:51 02-Grande Valse Brillante Op.34 No.1
09:54 03-Grande Valse Brillante Op.34 No.2
15:26 04-Grande Valse Brillante Op.34 No.3
17:33 05-Grand Valse Op.42
20:59 06-Minute Waltz Op.64 No.1
22:35 07-Waltz Op.64 No.2
25:37 08-Waltz Op.64 No.3
28:14 09-Waltz L'adieu Op.69 No.1
31:46 10-Waltz Op.69 No.2
34:37 11-Waltz Op.posth.70 No.1
36:17 12-Waltz Op.posth.70 No.2
37:51 13-Waltz Op.posth.70 No.3
40:22 14-Waltz Op.posth. B.56
43:13 15-Waltz Op.posth. B.44
45:14 16-Waltz Op.posth. B.21
46:25 17-Waltz Op.posth. B.46
49:07 18-Waltz Op.posth. B.133
50:19 19-Waltz Op.posth. B.150

Or, with far more rubato, a more fluid tempo, and more delicate, less brilliant touch, here are the 19 waltzes interpreted by Vladimir Askenazy:

Published on Oct 31, 2013

Ashkenazy plays the Piano Works of Chopin (13 CDs).

01 - Waltz No.1 in E flat, Op.18 (Grande valse brillante)
02 - Waltz No.2 in A flat, Op.34 No.1 (Valse brillante)
03 - Waltz No.3 in A minor, Op.34 No.2
04 - Waltz No.4 in F, Op.34 No.3
05 - Waltz No.5 in A flat, Op.42 (Grande valse)
06 - Waltz No.6 in D flat, Op.64 No.1 (Minute)
07 - Waltz No.7 in C sharp minor, Op.64 No.2
08 - Waltz No.8 in A flat, Op.64 No.3
09 - Waltz No.9 in A flat, Op.posth.69 No.1 (BI 95) (L'adieu - farewell)
10 - Waltz No.10 in B minor, Op.posth.69 No.2 (BI 35)
11 - Waltz No.11 in G flat, Op.posth.70 No.1 (BI 92)
12 - Waltz No.12 in F minor-A flat, Op.posth.70 No.2 (BI 138)
13 - Waltz No.13 in D flat, Op.posth.70 No.3 (BI 40)
14 - Waltz No.14 in E minor, Op.posth.P1 No.15 (BI 56)
15 - Waltz No.15 in E, Op.posth.P1 No.12 (BI 44)
16 - Waltz No.19 in A minor, Op.posth.P2 No.11 (BI 150)
17 - Waltz No.16 in A flat, Op.posth.P1 No.13 (BI 21) (Emily Elsner)
18 - Waltz No.18 in E flat, Op.posth.P2 No.10 (BI 133) (Sostenuto)
19 - Waltz No.17 in E flat, Op.posth.P1 No.14 (BI 46) (Emily Elsner)

Finally, one more time, more reflective, slower, but expressive and nuanced interpretation by Claudio Arrau, copied by Neryong Ci (http://about.me/neryongc)on YouTube with the following introduction: 

"Astoundingly beautiful, Claudio Arrau's late Chopin recordings are, along with his late Debussy recordings, the peak of his art. Recorded mostly in the '70s and early '80s, Arrau's Chopin recordings catch him past his prime as a technician -- although much of Chopin's solo piano music is here, the extremely difficult polonaises, the sonatas, and especially the etudes are conspicuous in their absence -- but at the height of his powers as a poet. There are his radiant waltzes, his luminous preludes, his ravishing impromptus, his atmospheric ballades, and his evocative concertos with Eliahu Inbal directing the London Philharmonic. But above all, there are Arrau's sublime nocturnes, some of the most emotional, most soulful, most sensual, and most spiritual recordings of any piano music ever recorded. The warmth of his tone, the clarity of his phrasing, the depth of his sonorities, the utter inevitability of his tempos makes Arrau's nocturnes mandatory listening for anyone who loves piano music. And the inclusion of Arrau's 1953 U.S. Decca recordings of the impromptus, the ballades, the scherzos, and the barcarolle makes this set mandatory listening for even those folks who already have Arrau's later Chopin recordings. Decca's monaural sound is distant but clean enough; Philips' stereo sound is so honest and true that it's better than reality."

1. Waltz No.1 in E flat, Op.18 -"Grande valse brillante"
2. Waltz No.2 in A flat, Op.34 No.1 - "Valse brillante"
3. Waltz No.3 in A minor, Op.34 No.2
4. Waltz No.4 in F, Op.34 No.3
5. Waltz No.5 in A flat, Op.42 - "Grande valse"
6. Waltz No.6 in D flat, Op.64 No.1 -"Minute"
7. Waltz No.7 in C sharp minor, Op.64 No.2
8. Waltz No.8 in A flat, Op.64 No.3
9. Waltz No.9 in A flat, Op.69 No.1 -"Farewell"
10. Waltz No.10 in B minor, Op.69 No.2
11. Waltz No.11 in G flat, Op.70 No.1
12. Waltz No.12 in F minor/A flat, Op.70 No.2
13. Waltz No.13 in D flat, Op.70 No.3
14. Waltz No.14 in E minor, Op.posth.
15. Waltz No.16 in A flat, Op.posth.
16. Waltz No.15 in E, Op.posth.
17. Waltz No.19 in A minor, Op.posth.
18. Waltz No.18 in E flat, Op.posth.
19. Waltz No.17 in E flat, Op.posth.

Enjoy the galaxy of beauty in Chopin's music and look to the stars for inspiration on those deep, dark winter nights! 

And while looking up, we can think of the cosmic scale of things and then listen to Chopin's waltzes, what a miracle is this music on our tiny planet Earth! 

Finally, as an encore, listen to the Minute Waltz, and read poems about the Minute Waltz from Chopin with Cherries, available online everywhere...

http://www.moonrisepress.com/chopin-with-cherries-anthology-by-maja-trochimczyk.html

Here's Valentina Lisitsa (1 min 48 seconds):



And here's Lang Lang, a rehearsal recording with introduction:





.... so again, after hearing so much lovely Chopin, enjoy the whole year with Chopin!