Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki describes Chopin’s Nocturnes as intimate music one plays for oneself, alone at night.
Born in Calgary to Polish immigrant parents, Lisiecki was invited to perform at the 2008 Chopin and His Europe Festival in Warsaw when he was 13. His affinity for the music is on display in a 2021 album of Chopin’s complete Nocturnes. He believes that “Chopin’s music flows by itself in a sense, but you need to feel instinctively where things are placed.”
Dreamy, magical, and melancholy, the Nocturne in B-flat minor opens the Op. 9 trilogy. Composed between 1831 and 1832, and dedicated to Belgian pianist Marie Pleyel, the three Op. 9 Nocturnes were Chopin’s first published set.
Recordings
Chopin: Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 1 in B Flat Minor. Larghetto, Jan Lisiecki Deutsche Grammophon
