Imogen Cooper

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…there is magical playing in the Presto of the Mozart and throughout much of the Ravel. …'La vallée des cloches' ends the recital on a note of sublime beauty. — BBC Music Magazine, January 2008, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Oct 2007
Catalogue No: WHLIVE0018
Label: Wigmore Hall Live
Length: 78 minutes

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101

Work length22:19

$4.75

$5.85

Imogen Cooper

I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung

Track length4:31

$1.05

$1.30

II. Lebhaft, marschmassig

Track length6:19

$1.05

$1.30

III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll (Adagio ma non troppo, con affeto - Presto)

Track length3:10

$1.05

$1.30

IV. Geschwinde, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit

Track length8:19

$1.60

$1.95

Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K310

Work length20:45

$4.25

$5.20

Imogen Cooper

I. Allegro maestoso

Track length9:32

$1.60

$1.95

II. Andante cantabile con espressione

Track length7:44

$1.60

$1.95

III. Presto

Track length3:29

$1.05

$1.30

Ravel: Miroirs, M.43

Work length29:29

$5.80

$7.15

Imogen Cooper

I. Noctuelles (Très léger)

Track length5:08

$1.05

$1.30

II. Oiseaux tristes (Très lent)

Track length3:42

$1.05

$1.30

III. Une barque sur l'océan (D'un rythme souple)

Track length7:16

$1.60

$1.95

IV. Alborada del gracioso (Assez vif)

Track length6:28

$1.05

$1.30

V. La vallée des cloches (Très lent)

Track length6:55

$1.05

$1.30

Debussy: Préludes, Livre II, L. 123: VII. La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune

Work length5:33

$1.05

$1.30

Imogen Cooper

Reviews
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Reviews

January 2008

…there is magical playing in the Presto of the Mozart and throughout much of the Ravel. …'La vallée des cloches' ends the recital on a note of sublime beauty.

2010

Throughout her live programme Imogen Cooper's poise and overall artistry make a refreshing change from a more overt, less subtle virtuosity.
She captures all of Beethoven's speculative beauty at the start of his Op 101 Sonata, and if others are more fiercely energised in the second movement march, with its prophecy of Schumann's obsessive dotted rhythms, few are more stylish and refined. Again, if her view of Mozart's A minor Sonata could be thought sometimes self-consciously beautiful or manicured, there is no denying her calibre, never more so than in her urgent propulsion of the wind-swept finale.
Cooper studied with Kathleen Long in London and Jacques Février in Paris, which gives her Ravel a special distinction. Less animated or razor-sharp than others in 'Alborada del gracioso', she never forces the issue, and there is never a hint of the literalism that is the bane of many French pianists. 'Noctuelles', 'Oiseaux tristes' and 'La vallée des cloches' come beguilingly alive when played with such freedom and fantasy, yet always within a scrupulously true and accurate framework.
For her encore Cooper gives us Debussy's 'Les terraces des audiences', reminding you in every elusive phrase that subtlety and finesse are at the very heart of great French piano writing.
The BBC's soft-grained sound is ideally attuned to this never less than beautiful recital.

Go, listen, and wonder how many better pianists there are alive in this country, or anywhere

Imogen Cooper

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