Rafal Blechacz Chopin UHQCD

Numbered, Limited Edition UHQCD!
Playable on any CD player, the Ultimate High Quality CD greatly surpasses all previous CDs before it!
The Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz shows his great love for Chopin in this recording. The most technically demanding pieces of Chopin's piano repertoire, the Piano Sonatas No. 2 and No. 3, are interpreted in a clear and profound way. The recording is supplemented by the "Nocturne op. 48 No. 2" and the "Barcarolle op. 60". Blechacz has been a passionate supporter of the Polish composer not only since his victory at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2005. Due to his decades of experience in the interpretation of his works, he is one of the masters in this field.
"Blechacz remains an important advocate of Chopin's music today, and he understands the composer's relationship to his predecessors." (San Francisco Classical Voice)
Rafal Blechacz's devotion to the art of Chopin goes back a long way, predating his victory at the 2005 Warsaw International Chopin Piano Competition. Now, the Polish pianist dedicates another album to Chopin, performing Piano Sonatas No. 2 and No. 3, as well as Nocturne Op. 48 No. 2 and Barcarolle Op. 60.
"I feel like I went through some adventures with these works before I recorded them," Blechacz says. "I'm freer with dynamic contrasts and emotional extremes today. I didn't want to wait any longer to make this recording."
Chopin's second and third piano sonatas are undoubtedly among the most technically demanding in the piano repertoire. For a long time now, the sonatas have been on Blechacz's concert program. This experience allows him to rely on his intuition in his playing; both the structural clarity and the changing moods come through in his interpretations of the two sonatas. Blechacz's choice of accompanying pieces also reflects his concert experience: "I have been playing the repertoire for such a long time; all over the world, in a wide variety of concert halls and on any grand piano. Sharing the beauty of these compositions with my listeners was very important to me."
An unusually satisfying recording of these well-known works, with excellent Teldec Studio sound... - James Manheim, AllMusic.com, 4.5/5 stars
All About Ultimate High Quality CD (UHQCD)
Many years have passed since the birth of the Audio Compact Disc (CD) back in 1982. By use of High-Quality materials and a totally different manufacturing method, the definitive version of audiophile audio CD was born. Playable on any CD player, the Ultimate High Quality CD greatly surpasses all previous CDs before it!
The Ultimate High Quality CD (UHQCD):
UHQCD is a radical change to the CD manufacturing process itself. The conventional wisdom about CD manufacturing, which had remained largely unchanged across the world for over 30 years, has been exhaustively questioned. Through this effort, the ultimate in quality was attained - a level of quality that is certainly impossible to achieve with existing CD discs.
The Ultimate High Quality CD was developed through an effort to improve audio quality by simply upgrading the materials used in ordinary CDs to higher quality materials. For the substrate a high-transparency and high-fluidity polycarbonate (a type of plastic) of the type used for LCD panels was used, while for the reflective layer, low-cost, common aluminum was replaced with a unique and expensive alloy of high-reflectivity.
Differences in manufacturing methods:
Conventional CDs are produced using the technique of injection molding to form "pits" of data on polycarbonate material. Metal plate on which "pits" representing audio source data are formed is used as a die. This is called the "stamper." Polycarbonate is melted at high temperature and poured into the die to duplicate the pit patterns on the stamper.
This method is efficient because it enables high-speed production, but it does not enable totally accurate or complete duplication of the pits on the stamper. As a melted plastic, polycarbonate is inevitably viscous, so it cannot penetrate completely into every land and groove of the tiny pits of the stamper.
The Ultimate High Quality CD photopolymer is used instead of polycarbonate to replicate the pits of the stamper. In their normal state, photopolymers are liquids, but one of their characteristic properties is that they harden when exposed to light of certain wavelengths. The advantage of this property, perfect replication of very finely detailed pits was achieved. Photopolymers in the liquid state are able to penetrate into the tiniest corners of pits on the stamper so that the pattern of the pits is reproduced to an extremely high level of accuracy. The Ultimate High Quality CD reproduces audio with greater precision and at a level that is impossible to achieve using conventional CD production technology!
Packaged in an XRCD-like luxury digipak complete with full color CD booklet.

Features:

• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Made in Japan
• Superior Crystal Sound
• Ultimate High Quality CD
• XRCD-Like Luxury Digipak
• Playable on conventional CD players

Musicians:

• Rafal Blechacz, piano

Selections:

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Sonata No.2 in B-Flat Minor, Op.35
1. Frederic Chopin: I. Grave - Doppio movimento (Original Version)
2. Frederic Chopin: II. Scherzo - Più lento - Tempo I (original version)
3. Frederic Chopin: III. Marche funèbre. Lento (Original Version)
4. Frederic Chopin: IV Final. Presto (Original Version)
Nocturnes in F sharp minor, Op.48/2
5. Frederic Chopin: No.2 in F-Sharp Minor Andantino (Nocturnes, Op.48)
Piano Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.58
6. Frederic Chopin: I. Allegro maestoso (original version)
7. Frederic Chopin: II. Molto vivace (Original Version)
8. Frederic Chopin: III. Largo (original version)
9. Frederic Chopin: IV. Finale. Presto non tanto (Original Version)
Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op.60
10. Frederic Chopin: Original Version