How might one combine the worldly elegance of a Chopin with the so very “heavy” chromaticism of Wagner’s Tristan? Felix Blumenfeld, today almost entirely forgotten as a composer, knew the answer to this question – as his Prélude op. 17, No. 19 impressively demonstrates. However, before this so very original gem, which is only one of the highlights on our Blumenfeld album, concludes this program, Karl-Andreas Kolly has a whole series of other surprises ready that will make the hearts of fans of Russian piano virtuosity and other interested listeners beat a little faster. Blumenfeld very much has his place in the legendary phalanx of great Russian virtuosos/composers including his great model Anton Rubinstein and his own pupil Vladimir Horowitz. Nevertheless he regularly develops an individual language rooted not least in the deep veneration in which he held Frederic Chopin, though this did not keep him, in his capacity as a sought-after conductor, from lending his support to the introduction and dissemination of Wagner’s operas in Russia. He also repeatedly included the music of Scriabin and Rimsky-Korsakov on performance programs, even if it meant defying his superiors. The titles of Blumenfeld’s compositions show that formal strictness was not his thing. This practice meant that he was very in touch with his times and knew precisely what the music public wanted. German critics schooled on Brahms and Beethoven did not unanimously approve of this approach. Karl-Andreas Kolly’s previous albums are fondly remembered, and this release again traces a path taking us to a piano repertoire that has been neglected for much too long.