Olga Scheps — Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 1, Düsseldorf, 2014

Live capture of Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, performed by Russian-German pianist Olga Scheps. Given at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the performance brings together the soloist and the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio under conductor Agnieszka Duczmal. All three movements of the concerto are played complete: the broad Allegro maestoso, the delicate Romance — Larghetto, and the closing Rondo — Vivace with its Polish-dance accents. Trained in the Romantic tradition and known for her lyrical touch, Olga Scheps offers a nuanced reading of this early Chopin work, one of the pillars of the piano-and-orchestra repertoire, written when the composer was barely twenty. This filmed live concert, captured in the hall with particular care for sound and image, is aimed at lovers of classical music and Romantic piano. The pairing of a leading contemporary interpreter with a renowned Polish chamber orchestra gives the reading an idiomatic, unhurried quality. A reference document for discovering this concerto in a complete live performance.