Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor op. 11

It is not often that one hears in a single evening the two piano concertos that Chopin completed in his twenties, before his final farewell to Poland, and in reverse order of their numbering. Youthful works only in appearance, for the expressive reasons and forms that support them are already perfectly finished, following a pattern far removed from Beethoven. In 1830, in fact, the five Beethovenian concertos in Warsaw were still half-unknown, while those of Hummel, Kalkbrenner (dedicatee of the First Concerto) and especially Field, “father” of the Nocturne, were known. The role of the orchestra does not yet assume the weight and impetus it will in the more mature Romantic concerto, to the point that in certain passages one has the impression that the instrumental fabric remains an imperceptible veil. Nonetheless, Chopin’s pianism rises to heights in which poetry and virtuosity press into each other, not without the contribution of popular reminiscences. In the author’s memories, the First Concerto will always hold a privileged place: it was in fact Chopin’s last public performance before leaving Poland in 1830.

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor op. 21

Leaving Poland (which he would never see again), Chopin chose his Second Concerto for its Paris debut in 1832. It is not surprising that the Polish composer focused on this calling card, considering the persuasive force of the central Larghetto, in which an intimate and delicate cantabile alternates between dreamy moments, broken by a tension-filled central episode with stirring tremolos in the strings and dramatic interventions by the woodwinds. An intense monologue of the soul, by which Schumann and Liszt were deeply impressed, recognizing in Chopin a new voice capable of blending virtuosity and introspection. Officially dedicated to Countess Delphine Potocka, the Concerto is actually linked to memories of Konstancja Gładkowska, a singing student who had impressed the composer in his younger years in Warsaw.