CHOPIN sans CHOPIN – Adam Golka, piano
CHOPIN sans CHOPIN – Adam Golka, piano - Image 2

CHOPIN sans CHOPIN – Adam Golka, piano

£14.00 + P&P

Chopin sans Chopin is Adam Golka’s highly personal tribute to Frédéric Chopin, featuring works inspired by Chopin instead of music by the master himself. The album includes a plethora of international composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, including choices inspired by Golka’s Polish-American background and unique family history. The album includes a première recording of the 1894 Mazurka in E minor by Natalia Janotha (1856–1932). This is Golka’s fourth album on FHR.

Released 15 May 2026. 'Recording of The Month' MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL
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Description

Released on a limited edition DigiSleeve CD and on all digital platforms: 15 May 2026

Adam Golka piano

Gabriel FAURÉ (1845–1924)
1. Nocturne No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 36 (c. 1884)

Johannes BRAHMS (1833–1897)
2. Scherzo in E flat minor, Op. 4 (1851)

Natalia JANOTHA (1856–1932)
3. Mazurka in E minor, Op. 6, No. 1 (1894) *

Alexander SCRIABIN (1872–1915)
4. Fantasie in B minor, Op. 28 (1900)

Roman MACIEJEWSKI (1910–1998)
5. Mazurka No. 13, ‘Evening’ (1990)

Manuel PONCE (1882–1948)
6. Balada Mexicana (1915)

George GERSHWIN (1898–1937)
7–9 Preludes (1926)

Władysław SZPILMAN (1911–2000)
10. Mazurka in F minor (1942)

Nikolai KAPUSTIN (1937–2020)
Concert Etudes, Op. 40 (1984)
11. No. 7, ‘Intermezzo’ (Allegretto)
12. No. 8, ‘Finale’ (Prestissimo)

Total Timing: 56:23

* Première recording

Recorded at Kulturstiftung Marienmünster, Höxter, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 19–21 December, 2023
Recorded, edited and produced by Florian Schmidt (Pegasus Musikproduktion)

Press Quotes

‘CD of the Week’ (Polish Radio, Dwójka)

‘This is followed by Brahms’s Scherzo, Op 4, and again the performance is exceptional… Very warmly recommended, particularly as the recording of the piano is outstandingly warm and faithful too’ (International Piano Magazine)

‘I’m immediately won over by the full, rich piano sound that Florian Schmidt has achieved in the recording. It provides the perfect setting for Golka’s interpretations. He begins charmingly with a Fauré Nocturne, continues with a slenderly virtuosic and rhetorically shaped Brahms Scherzo.’ (Pizzicato)

‘… in ‘Chopin without Chopin’ Adam Golka creates a constellation where the famous star is a supernova. At the galactic centre of this collection is Scriabin’s Fantasy in B minor… a work that is notably indebted to our missing titular titan. Golka broods and builds towards the ecstatic central section… He (Golka) writes that he is ‘yet to record a single note’ of Chopin. This collection demonstrates he is more than ready to face that fear.’ (Gramophone)

‘A glorious, widely varied recital of Chopin-influenced piano music – Golka’s playing is lovely. He has boundless energy, unerring technique and a lyrical heart, and he has assembled a wonderful variety of pieces to illustrate his ideas… Altogether it is a rather special recital.’ (‘RECOMMENDED’ ‘Recording of The Month’ – MusicWeb International)

Pianist Adam Golka excels in viewing wide-ranging 19th & 20th repertoire through the lens of the piano giant… Golka rides its [Scriabin] glorious waves, and the build to the conclusion is nothing short of remarkable’ (Classical Notes)