Idil Biret is an accomplished classical pianist with over 70 albums to her name. She has recorded the complete works of Chopin and performed complete piano transcriptions of all nine Beethoven symphonies. Therefore, it is rather special that Ms. Biret has chosen to release several of her recordings as free downloads. There are quite a few to choose from on this page. I have chosen five works that fit the criteria for this site.

Bela Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major is one of the composer’s most accessible works. As are most of his compositions, it is quite rhythmic. If you are not familar with Bartok, who happens to be my favorite composer of the 20th century, this is a good starting place. If you are, you will definitely want to hear Biret’s performance of this concerto.

Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme By Paganini is a work for piano and orchestra consisting of a intro, theme, and 24 variations on a Paganini caprice. The mp3 files are split into 4 parts; part one - intro, theme, and variations 1 to 10, part two - variations 11 to 15, three -no. 16 to18, and four - no. 19 to 24. The work has been compared to a concerto where variations 1 to 10 is the first fast movement, No. 11 to 18 a slower movement, and then moving to a faster pace in the last movement (no. 19 to 24). This is a very popular classical piece and most of you will probably recognize the 18th variation immediately.

J. S Bach’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor is thought to be originally a violin concerto that Bach transcribed to harpsichord. Now it is usually played on the piano. Biret’s version is quite stately and refined.

Mozart’s Piano Sonata In A is nicknamed “Alla Turca” due to the Turkish sounding melody in the last movement. While Biret’s Bach was stately, her interpretation of Mozart is drawing-room delicate. This has always been one of my favorite Mozart compositions.

Chopin’s 12 Etudes, Op. 25 is another popular piece in the piano repetoire. These are highly demanding “studies” in which Biret displays an astounding amount of both technique and sensibility.

The above recordings are in 128kbps MP3. You can download all these works, plus others, from the link below. If you enjoy them, support the artist by buying her CDs.

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