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Nelson Freire:

Memories - The Unreleased Recordings 1970-2019

Decca Classics is proud to announce Nelson Freire - Memories: The Unreleased Recordings 1970-2019. The release pays tribute to the great Brazilian pianist, who passed away on 1 November 2021 and would have been 78 this October. It includes previously unreleased studio recordings and broadcast performances spanning concertos from Beethoven to Bartok.

Decca Classics Label Director and Nelson Freire’s long time recording producer, Dominic Fyfe, says,

“We lost Nelson too early. He still had many records to make. This two-disc set ‘Memories’ will hopefully serve as both a consolation and celebration. Searching through notes made at past sessions I discovered a handful of tracks which had never been released plus Nelson’s own commentary on the radio broadcasts included here. The recordings span almost five decades and salute this wonderful artist and friend. He was one of the Greats and his discography on Decca will forever be a jewel in our crown”.

Listeners will be able to hear unreleased recordings of Freire made in Berlin in 2014 of Bach, Gluck and Beethoven, including the Andante favori – his only recording of this piece. These are coupled with broadcast performances given by Freire between 1970 and 1985 which were personal favourites of his: Beethoven’s 4th with the Saint-Saens cadenzas and a Brahms 2, conducted by Horst Stein, of which Nelson said, “this is quite special”. Rarities include a Bartok 1 from 1970, the year in which he debuted the piece, and the only performance he ever gave of Richard Strauss’ Burleske. To complete the collection, pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Villa-Lobos and Debussy, previously only ever released as digital bonus tracks, are presented here on CD for the first time.

Nelson Freire:

Brahms

An artist who "clearly stands among the greatest pianists of our time or any other" (The New York Times), Nelson Freire made his recording debut in 1967 with Brahms' Sonata No.3 in F Minor. Half a century later, Freire returns with unrivalled color and imagination to this monumental work and other pieces from the Romantic composer in his new Decca album, Brahms, including a selection of the celebrated late intermezzi, Op.116 - Op.119.

42 TOTAL
SYND: Classical 24, Beethoven Net, CBC
Direct: SiriusXM, MOOD
Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Portland, Detroit, Hartford CT
INTER: Canada, UK, Poland
Online: AccuRadio, Audiophile Audition

Nelson Freire:

Bach

Nelson Freire has made his first studio recorded recital of the music of Bach in a program offering an overview of Bach's works for the keyboard. The recital combines original works with transcriptions by Bach himself and later composers such as Busoni, Siloti and Dame Myra Hess. Freire distills a lifetime of experience with Bach into 80 minutes of authoritative playing. The new album features four of Bach's great keyboard works – the Partita No. 4 in D major, the Toccata in C minor, the English Suite No. 3 in G minor and the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor – and a collection of delightful shorter pieces, including Busoni's celebrated transcription of Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland and culminating in the charismatic Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Cantata No. 147, arranged by Myra Hess.

8 Total 57 Total
SYND: Classical 24, CMI, CBC
Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice, MOOD
Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis, Seattle, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Portland, Detroit, Baltimore, Denver, Austin, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Memphis, Albuquerque, SC-State, Buffalo, Louisville, Columbus OH, Honolulu, Canada
Online: AccuRadio, Taintradio

Nelson Freire:

Chopin

In the third of three new landmark albums on the Decca label, Nelson Freire marks his 70th birthday year with a stunning recording of Chopin's lyrical and brilliant Piano Concerto No. 2 made in Cologne with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and Lionel Bringuier, one of the most talked-about of the younger generation of conductors. The release also features some favorite Chopin solo works – the Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, the Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57, the Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53, Three Mazurkas, Op. 50, plus the Impromptu in G flat major Op. 51.

28 NEW 31 Total
SYND: Classical 24, CBC
Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice, MOOD
Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, Seattle, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Portland, Detroit, Baltimore, Denver, Pittsburgh, Austin, New Orleans, Buffalo, Canada
Online: ClassicallyHip, Taintradio

Nelson Freire:

Radio Days

Nelson Freire marks his 70th birthday year with the release of three landmark albums on the Decca label. Decca has mined the archives of radio stations in France, Germany and the Netherlands to create a double-album set, Radio Days, of recordings made during Freire's twenties and early thirties. The compilation includes his thrilling live interpretations of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1, Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Schumann's rarely performed Concert Introduction and Allegro in D minor.