Lauded as one of the most original and brilliant of Georgian composers, Sulkhan Tsintsadze synthesized 20th-century classical elements with the rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and modal characteristics of Georgian folk music. In so doing he developed, across a wide spectrum of the repertoire, his own highly personal and approachable idiom. His 24 Preludes for Piano were composed in 1971 and are unmistakably national in character. He gave new life to traditional Georgian folk songs and dances in a masterfully structured cycle that flows with the seamless eloquence of a film. This virtuosic kaleidoscope of contrasting images reveals music that is both extravagant and vibrant. Inga Fiolia studied at the Central Music School of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and the Cologne Musikhochschule with Alexey Nasedkin, Rudolf Kehrer and Vassily Lobanov. She has collaborated with orchestras including the Brussels Philharmonic, the Georgian State Chamber Orchestra and National Philharmonic, and the South Westphalia Philharmonic, and has broadcast on all the major German TV and radio stations.

This compilation celebrates Philip Glass’ 80th birthday through his unique contribution to the solo piano repertoire. It includes the sweepingly diverse and intricately melodic Etudes which are both technique-expanding and also intimately personal statements. His importance as a ? lm composer is shown in the subtle power of his transcriptions from stage and screen music, Metamorphosis I-V, and in his BAFTA-winning score for the The Hours. And Music in Fifths – which Steve Reich called “like a freight train” – dates from his experimental years and is full of a mesmerising variety of pulse patterns.

The history of Cuban music is the story of a fusion between European – largely Spanish – and African elements. Some of the finest, most stylistically diverse and exciting Cuban piano music can be heard on this album. Ernesto Lecuona is one of the greatest of all Latin American composers for the instrument, his Malagueña being the most powerful representation of Spain in Cuban music. Danzas afro-cubanas reflects the African influence on his music. Drawing on the genres of son and canción Carlos Fariñas's Cantero radiates vivid colour while the music of Andres Alen Rodríguez blends song, habanera and jazz influences.
-----

REVIEW:

This debut release by a young Cuban pianist makes a very good case for the compositions she includes and her skills in presenting them. A lovely disc—don’t miss it.

– American Record Guide

Always inventive and innovation-seeking, Erik Satie's earliest works show traces of Chopin as an influence but he soon came to reject virtuosity and tradition, choosing instead to remain with the quintessentially French traits of simplicity, clarity, precision, elegance and economy. Satie's hautingly beautiful floating melodies and modal tonalities are unforgettably compelling, combining bygone classical ages with Parisian sophistication. This landmark recording uses both a new and corrected edition of Satie' smusic and Cosima Wagner's own 1881 Erard piano, his instrument maker of choice. Recognized as a leading interpreter of Liszt's music, Nicola Horvath has in recen tyears become one of the most sought-after pianists of his generation. Holder of a number of awards, including First Prize of the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono International Competitions, he frequently organizes events and concerts of unusual length, sometimes over twelve hours, such as Philip Glass' complete piano music or Erik Satie's Vexations, and composers from a number of countries have written for him.

The second volum in Giorgio Koukl's complete survey of Arthur Vincent Lourie's piano music spans the years 1912 to 1938. In that time the Belarus-born composer embraced extended tonality in Deux Poemes, Op. 8, huge Scriabinesque chords in Syntheses, Op. 16 and forward-looking harmonic astringency in the Sonatina No. 3. His post-Revolutionary Paris years are represented by a sequence of characterful miniatures.

This third and final volume dedicated to Enescu's piano works shows the unique blend of influences he acquired during his teenage years in Vienna and Paris. These start with his Brahms-like treatment of the piano as a symphonic instrument in the Scherzo and Ballade to the infusion of French late-Romanticism and Faure in the Impromptus. The crowning achievement of these early compositions is the Suite dans le style ancien, Enescu's first public solo piano opus, a stylised evocation of Bach seen through the prism of turn-of-the-century Paris.

Lubox Fiser was one of the most influential and versatile Czech composers of the twentieth century, with a prolific and impressive body of work for the stage, screen and concert hall. Fiser’s eight piano sonatas (of which the second is lost), were composed for the instrument described by the composer as ‘his greatest love of all.’ Retaining a special place in Fiser’s oeuvre, they became an intimate diary of his constantly evolving compositional style, from his student days and the neo-classical Sonata No. 1, through the experimental sonatas of the 1960s and 1970s, to the simplicity of melodic line and the immediate emotional impact of the final sonata, No. 8.

Jaan Rääts has written prolifically for the piano and his ten sonatas, spanning half a century, reveal his sophisticated control of expressive gestures. The composer himself has said: "I don't like rigid systems. I like absorbing musical material, filtering it, emotionally developing it as needed. Using it as a springboard for my imagination..."

On A. Tcherepnin Complete Piano Music, Vol. 4: ”This is another adorable disc of scintillating music brilliantly played and cannot be praised highly enough.” – MusicWeb International

A native of Bohemia, Leopold Kozeluch made his name in Vienna, a thriving musical center dubbed the land of the Clavier by Mozart. The sonatas in this volume all appeared in 1784, meeting the challenge of Mozart's popularity head-on. Kozeluch was singularly adept at producing what was considered the ideal fortepiano sonata of the time, his high reputation making him an influential supporter of a new instrument capable of accommodating the clarity, the delicacy, the light and shade he demanded in music.

Unlike the only published piano duet arrangement by Max Reger, which has serious performance limitations, Eleonor Bindman’s new transcription of the Brandenburg Concertos highlights their polyphony, imagining how Bach might have distributed the score if he had created four-part inventions for piano duet. With an equal partnership between the two instrumentalists, using the modern piano’s full potential to convey the unique scoring and character of each work, the concertos are ordered to create an engaging listening sequence. Both Eleonor Bindman and Jenny Lin receive critical accolades wherever they perform. The Poughkeepsie Journal write of Bindman: “…a strong pianist who attacks her work with great vitality and emotion. She is extremely expressive and mesmerizes her audience with her flair and technique.” Gramophone magazine hailed Lin as “an exceptionally sensitive pianist,” while The Washington Post labeled her as “…surely one of the most interesting pianists in America right now…”

-----

REVIEWS:

Beyond mere curiosities, these transcriptions allow for familiar works to be experienced in new and valid ways. Pianists Bindman and Lin make a great case for them.

– Fanfare

Only pianists of the highest caliber could deliver these performances. Nothing seemed out of place, and the phrasing and dynamic shaping of the lines were exceptional. This is a fresh look at some of Bach’s greatest works in piano arrangements that work quite well.

– American Record Guide

Sandor Balassa’s distinguished reputation in his native Hungary and beyond rests in numerous operas and orchestral works. But here, the sheer diversity of his piano music equally provides ‘a feeling of richness, inspires a sense of adventure, and touches our hearts.’ His sophisticated, lyrical style is heard in education Sonatinas, adaptations of works both virtuoso and visionary originally for harp, cimbalom and harpsichord, and even include a Gallop in ¾ time, justified by the composer as being about a three-legged horse. István Kassai graduated as a pianist from the Budapest Academy of Music in 1982 studying in the class of Pál Kadosa. In 1984 he pursued a second diploma at the Conservatoire Européen de Musique under the close supervision of professor Yvonne Lefébure. He also undertook several master courses, including one led by György Cziffra, who had a great impact on Kassai’s artistic development. During his career, Kassai has won several first prizes in international competitions such as the International Piano Competition for Young Artists in 1972 in Czechoslovakia, the Piano Competition organised by Hungarian Radio in 1979, and the Paris International Debussy Piano Competition in 1982. Moreover, Kassai’s artistic talent has been acknowledged by such prestigious awards as the ARTISJUS Prize in 1976, the Chevillion-Bonnaud Prize of the Fondation de France in 1986, the Nívó Prize of Hungarian Radio in 1990, the ‘Ferenc Liszt’ Prize in 2001 and the Leó Weiner Memorial Prize in 2010.

This recording charts a two-decade period in the musical life of the eminent Dagestani composer, teacher and conductor, Murad Kazhlaev. He has always written with idiomatic flair for his own instrument, the piano, from the early Romantic Sonatina to the beautiful folk themes that make up the Dagestan Album. His nonchalant wit can be savoured in Picture Pieces whilst expressive beauty permeates the Six Preludes.

Friederich Kuhlau was among the most important early Romantic composers in Denmark, becoming known as the ‘Danish Beethoven’ for his popular works for flute. The etude-like Piano Sonata, Op. 127 reveals a deep expressiveness reminiscent of Chopin’s studies, while the sophisticated Piano Sonata, Op. 8a shows Kuhlau’s contemplative, darker side before closing with typical virtuoso esprit. The charm and elegance of the Sonatina, Op. 21 No. 1 has delighted piano students for generations. Jens Luhr was born in the same town as Friedrich Kuhlau, Uelzen, in northern Germany. There at the local music school, Luhr played- along with many other young piano students- the Kuhlau Sonatinas. He went on to study at the prestigious conservatories of music in Hannover, Wurzburg, Basle, and Leipzig. Luhr is known as a soloist and chamber musician, as well as being an interpreter of contemporary music, playing or taking part in several premieres. In 2012 and 2014 he won second prize at the International Music Competition of France in the highest category for pianists.

Babadjanian: Complete Works for Piano Solo

Regarded at the height of his career as the foremost symphonist of his day, the young Joseph Joachim Raff was rescued from penury by Liszt, and the lyrical and self-assured Six Poemes were dedicated to his famous amanuensis as a gesture of gratitude. The Fantasie Op. 142 is a powerful example of Raff's mature piano music, while the Erinnerung an Venedig paints an effective sound picture with economy of language and distinctive harmonic piquancy.

Gerhard Frommel (1906-1984) regarded his piano sonatas as a miniature compendium of his entire output, reflecting a fundamentally Romantic approach melded with Stravinskian vitality. The sixth sonata’s poised profundity, inventiveness and structural perfection gives it a place as one of the best in its genre, its serene transparency lying between the powerfully heroic fifth sonata and the crystalline quality of the seventh; a summation of expression in a work that Frommel was conscious would be his last.

As a twelve-year-old Tatjana Blome won first prize in the Steinway Competition and a year later gave her first evening recital. In 1995 she made her debut in the Berlin Philharmonie with Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1. She studied with Josef Matthias Blome, Renate Kretschmar-Fischer, Heidrun Holtmann, Aribert Reimann and Gerhard Oppitz. Her career has brought performances throughout Europe, with recitals in Austria, France, Slovenia, Portugal and Russia and appearances as a soloist with various orchestras. Tatjana Blome has recorded over fifty works for labels including Deutsche Grammophon, EDA and Grand Piano.

Among Armenian composers who worked principally in Armenia without seeking to establish any worldwide reputation, the composer E.A. Abramian (1923-86) was one of the most significant and respected. Probably his most important work for the piano is the 24 Preludes (1952/72). The cycle remains within the realm of tonality, although much expanded and enlarged through the use of chromatic elements that often generate harmonies of considerable complexity. Pianist Mikael Ayrapetyan’s repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary and includes rarely performed Armenian works.

Tcherepnin: Piano Music, Vol. 6

Raff: Piano Works, Vol. 4

Fauré pupil Louis Aubert (1877-1968) moved in the same circles as Ravel, Debussy, Koechlin and others, and was considered in his day to be one of the most original French composers. With its evocatively impressionistic images of seascapes, the night and Spain, Sillages is amongst the most significant French piano works of the early 20th c. The impassioned Violin Sonata is Aubert’s only large-scale work in abstract Classical form, whereas Feuille d’images is a varied collection of educational pieces. The fiery Habanera is heard in the composer’s own transcription for piano four hands.

Piano music is central to Valentin Silvestrov’s output. With its frequent allusions to lingering recollections of the past, this programme presents an overview of various creative periods. It begins with the composer’s reworkings of youthful sketches (Naive Musik), followed by Der Bote (The Messenger) with its beautiful Mozartian theme leading into a sonatina in the style of the 18th century. After recent works from Silvestrov’s self-defined ‘Bagatelle’ period, the recording concludes with the striking Kitschmusik, which engages with the music of Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. The Two Waltzes are dedicated to Elisaveta Blumina.

The three works on this second volume of Raff's piano works come from the very pinnacle of his career. The 1871 Fantasie Sonata is a fascinating and richly imaginative hybrid, whilst the Variations on an Original Theme is marked by fertility of invention. The Four Piano Pieces exemplifies Raff's gift for lyricism and characterization.

During his short life Erwin Schulhoff absorbed a wide range of musical styles. The jazz-inspired Partita includes witty takes on the tango, foxtrot and shimmy.

A seminal figure of French Romantic music, Camille Saint-Sae?ns was also a great keyboard prodigy. The E?tudes, Op. 52 unite exuberant virtuosity with shimmering delicacy, while the Six E?tudes, Op. 111 pay homage to Chopin and Bach as well as anticipating Ravel’s impressionism. The neo-Baroque Op. 135, for left hand alone, is modelled on Couperin and Rameau. This title is the first volume of a series that brings together everything from Saint-Sae?ns’ spellbinding three sets of e?tudes to first recordings of transcriptions and other works.

Geoffrey Burleson has performed to wide acclaim throughout Europe and North America, and is equally active as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and jazz performer. His numerous solo appearances include prominent venues in Paris, New York, Rome, Athens, Mexico City, Rotterdam, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Switzerland, England, Spain, and elsewhere.

“Burleson plays with enormous flair and style... superb!” – Fanfare for Naxos (8.559664)

“A top-notch pianist. Burleson’s piquancy and poetry blended beautifully.” – The Washington Post