Despite her tragically brief life, Vítezslava Kaprálová is now considered the most important female Czech composer of the 20th century, her prolific output, abundant with fresh and bold ideas, passion, tenderness and youthful energy. This in-depth exploration, representing some of the very best of her music, includes early gems such as the April Preludes, the exquisite and sophisticated Variations, the remarkable Sonata appassionata and her final Dance for piano, reconstructed by Giorgio Koukl from its only surviving sketch.

Josef Hofmann was a prodigy and a polymath. Fascinated by technology he made experimental cylinder recordings as early as 1887, and undertook an American tour at the age of eleven. One of the very greatest pianists of the Golden Age, his recorded legacy is priceless, but like many musicians of his generation he also composed. He wrote a symphony, five piano concertos, and a considerable amount of distinctive and enjoyable solo piano music in the Romantic tradition, including a richly contrasted set of Charakterskizzen, Op. 40, a Sonata in F major, Op. 21 that reveals the influence of Schumann, and a finely wrought Theme and Variations and Fugue, Op. 14. Artem Yasynskyy won the Hofmann Prize at the First German Piano Competition of Polish Music in Hamburg in 2013.

Franz Anton Hoffmeister occupied an important place in Viennese musical and cultural life. He was much respected as a publisher—his firm published works by Mozart and Haydn, and he was friendly with Beethoven—but also as a composer. He wrote at least eight operas, a substantial number of symphonies, and a large amount of music for the flute, a popular instrument amongst the wealthy amateurs of the time. He also wrote expressively and rewardingly for the piano, which had a similarly wide audience. This is the second of three volumes of the first complete recording of Hoffmeister’s piano sonatas.

Bavarian-born Adolf von Henselt was one of a galaxy of star pianist-composers of a similar age that included Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Thalberg. A student o Hummel, Henselt developed a breathtaking, idiosyncratic virtuoso technique but stage fright drew him away from performance an more towards composition and then teaching. Sergio Gallo, a steinway artist, specializes in the repertoire of the Romantic period, especially Liszt and his contemporaries, including Schumann, Henselt, Brahms and Chopin. Gallo has made several acclaimed recordings for Eroica and a recent release with Naxos of Liszt's transcriptions of opera by Meyerbeer, which was critically acclaimed by BBC Magazine: "Gallo makes a goo case for Liszt's honoring of the operatic originals."

Though he died in his mid-forties Benjamin Godard, a child prodigy who had entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of ten, wrote prolifically in almost all genres. Stylistically he adhered to models such as Schumann and Chopin rather than aligning himself with Wagner, as did many of his French contemporaries. His piano works are gracious and witty, sometimes spiced with unusual harmonies, and balance perfectly the differing demands of the salon and the concert hall. Spanning the breadth of Benjamin Godard's compositional life this selection of piano music includes the gracious and warm Nocturnes, which show some Chopin influence, and the Trois Fragments Po�tiques, Op.13 with their long-spun lyrical melodies. His sparkling vivacity and more virtuosic side can be savored in the late Fantaisie en trois parties, Op. 143.

Benjamin Godard was regarded as one of the most promising young composers in France but, standing firm against the 'Wagner fever' of his contemporaries, his music fell out of favor after his untimely death. Most of his piano works are character pieces such as the descriptions of water in Sur la Mer. This is a feature shared by the Schumann-like fairies and sprites of the Sonate Fantastique, contrasting with the powerful virtuoso abstraction of the Second Sonata.

This program reverses time, revealing the Metamorphosis in Glass’s work from his 1980s film and theatre transcriptions, through The Olympian composed for the Los Angeles Olympiad, to rarities such as the dream-like Coda. The Trilogy Sonata highlights Glass’s renowned operas from the celebratory Akhnaten Dance to the stately Satyagraha and landmark Einstein on the Beach. The dazzling pulse-patterns of Two Pages make it a milestone of minimalism, while the Sonatina No. 2 is a pre-minimalist work composed when Glass was a student of Darius Milhaud at Juilliard.

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Review:

Nicolas Horvath's own liner notes to this recording reveal his inclination toward analytical detail. He extracts thematic material from the rotating structures that Glass sets spinning like so many Buddhist prayer wheels. In doing so he compels the listener to experience the music more melodically than its hypnotic patterns might otherwise allow. Presenting this repertoire in such a deeply engaging and listenable way makes Horvath a compelling interpreter.

– The Whole Hote

Gerhard Frommel rejected vapid pre-war Nationalism and Schoenberg’s dodecaphony, finding his voice in individuality and tradition. His highly contrasting Piano Sonatas are rooted in a blend of romanticism and the rhythmic propulsion of Stravinsky, articulated with tenderness in No 1, clownish grotesquerie in No 2, and sensual impressionism in No 3.

Virtuoso pianist Ignaz Friedman's compositions have long been neglected but they possess great melodic beauty and harmonic inventiveness. Grouped into sets of character pieces, they exude the haunting melodies of late Romanticism. The lush inventiveness of the Vier Klavierstücke, Op. 27 finds time for Polish folkloric inspirations whilst Stimmungen, Op. 79 – dedicated to his friend Rachmaninov - is pensive, passionate, serious and colourful. Strophes reflects Friedman’s love of Grieg, as well as the abiding influence of Vienna.

“It takes pianistic skill to convey the essence of these works and that is evident in Joseph Banowetz’s lovely and committed performances.” - Mark Novak, Fanfare

This release is the first of three discs devoted to the piano music of George Enescu. The works chosen for this first album are three significant pieces - Nocturne in D-Flat Major "Hommage a la Princesse Marie Cantacuzene", Pieces impromptues, and Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor. Enescu’s Romanian influences show in these works, which feel strongly of Romanian folk music. Pianist Josu de Solaun performs these works.

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REVIEW:

His technique is excellent here. The concluding Sonata 1 is shot through with harmonic twists and driving rhythms, handled expertly.

– American Record Guide

There is only one major issue with this excellent new release from Grand Piano: how to approach listening to it. The above listing does not really reveal the problem. The fact is that Johann Baptist Cramer’s Studio per il Pianoforte, Books 1-4 contain some 84 complex, involved and highly pianistic studies (studio=studies=etudes). This represents almost two solid hours of music. Does one begin at ‘Étude I in C major’ and work through to ‘Étude LXXXIV’ in the same key? On the other hand, perhaps, it could be good to take these a book at a time. Yet each ‘book’ is around 30 minutes. Stravinsky once remarked that Vivaldi wrote the same work some 400 times. Now I am not implying that these études lack interest or variety: what I am suggesting is that after two dozen they begin to sound a little same-ish. My suggestion is that if the listener can read - or even follow - music, they should download the four books from IMSLP (see links below). Personally, I took them at about six or seven at a time in the order presented. I then stopped and did something else and then ‘carried on’.

Johann Baptist Cramer was born in Mannheim in 1771 but was brought to London the following year. After lessons in violin and piano from his father, he had more formal studies with, amongst others C.F. Abel and Muzio Clementi. However, as a composer he was largely self-taught. In 1788 he began to tour extensively as a concert pianist, playing in many European capitals. In 1828, he set up a music-publishing house in partnership with Robert Addison. Although Cramer is best known for his piano solo music, he contributed seven piano concertos, hundreds of sonatas, a piano quartet and quintet.

Studio per il pianoforte were published, as noted above, in four books, two in 1804 as Op.30 and the other two in 1810 as Op.40. They formed the fifth section of the composer’s massive Grosse praktische Pianoforte Schule (1815). Keith Anderson points out that they ‘anticipated [Muzio] Clementi’s Gradus ad Parnassum by nearly seven years.

Cramer’s ‘studio’ cross the boundary between ‘teaching pieces’ and works of art. Beethoven and Schumann famously admired them: Busoni issued an edition of these Études and wrote a number of additional examples in the same style -which are generously included on the present CD.

Nicolas Temperley has suggested that Cramer’s studies were by far his most ‘influential’ work. They are historically, as well as musically important. He writes that they ‘were the first of their kind: in fact, the word ‘study’ (étude) appears to have acquired its modern meaning through them…’ it was the first major collection of (high grade) teaching pieces for the pianoforte.

Cramer’s studies are not simply methodological exercises which would have had a tendency to be as dry as dust. They are imbued with well-considered formal characteristics and subject matter which are to be approached as part and parcel of the technical problems encountered. It has been suggested that only by a detailed examination of their internal structures will the qualities of beauty and interest be laid bare. It is unlikely that most listeners of these pieces will be able to devote this amount of time and effort to their exploration. However, I guess that the rule of thumb must be to regard them in a similar manner as those by Chopin. Alas, it is unlikely that a recital will include Cramer’s studies as a part of the programme, whereas Chopin Études are a staple of the concert pianist. However, at his best Cramer comes close to the Polish master in synthesising musical material and technical challenge to produce a consistent and satisfying artistic form.

The great nineteenth century pianist Edward Dannreuther has described this collection of studies well: ‘this is of classical value for its intimate combination of significant musical ideas with the most instructive mechanical passages.’

Stylistically, it is fair to suggest that Cramer’s Études inhabit the sound-world of Mozart and Scarlatti with frequent nods to Bach. However, his great achievement is that he has managed to fuse a conservative playing style with the latest developments in piano performance made possible by the mechanical advance in instrument design.

It is good to have Busoni’s Eight Études after Cramer included in this present CD collection. Unfortunately there is little information about them in the liner notes. However, they were dedicated to Carl Lütschg, who was a former pupil of Ignaz Moscheles. Keith Anderson notes that four of these studies deal with ‘legato’ playing whilst the remaining four address the problems of ‘staccato’ touch. Without a lot of work, I am not sure to what extent Busoni has adapted, rewritten or amended the original Cramer studies. It would have been helpful if the liner notes had proved a brief ‘cross reference chart’.

I thoroughly enjoyed being introduced to the entire run of Cramer’s 84 studies. In fact, it is the first time that they have been available in their entirety. They are played by three pianists who bring a huge talent to the performance of these important works. However, the main impression I get from listening to these Études is the inordinate enthusiasm and understanding that comes across in the performance. It would be easy, I guess, for the technical brilliance of many these studies to overshadow the poetical element that inhabits much of this music.

The liner notes are reasonable, although a little more detail may have been helpful. However, I accept that any analysis of each of these pieces would have made the booklet unwieldy.

The sound quality is impressive and allows the listener the maximum opportunity to enjoy every moment of this music.

With the above caveat about taking these pieces steadily rather than through-listening, I am sure that this double-CD will appeal strongly to all piano music enthusiasts. Whatever their usual fare, these Études represent a major stage in the development of piano technique as we have come to understand it in the music of Chopin, Liszt and other romantic pianists.

The full piano score of Johnann Baptist Cramer’s Studio per il pianoforte in four volumes can be found at IMSLP.

-- John France, MusicWeb International

The piano and chamber works on this recording span 45 years of Boris Tchaikovsky's career, ranging from the delightful pieces composed by the precocious ten year old to the Etude in E Major of 1980. They include the Sonata for 2 Pianos with its mosaic approach to composition and its expressive exploration of the inner soul, and the beautifully crafted Violin Sonata of 1959. The solo piano miniatures reveal a spare texture that highlights the instrument's elemental beauty.

Blagoje Bersa was a major figure in Croatian musical life, his compositions a compound of Mediterranean, Central European and Balkan elements. His piano music, of which this recording is Volume 1, reveals a rich diversity drawn from Classical and Romantic models, encompassing charming Chopinesque barcarolles, a melancholic Notturno, a stirring Liszt-inspired Fantaisie-Impromptu, beautiful balletic miniatures and the Brahmsian grandeur of the powerfully conceived Sonata in F minor. Goran Filipec, recent laureate of the Grand Prix du Disque of the Ferenc Liszt Society of Budapest for his album "Paganini Studies" (Naxos Records, 2016), is a musician who never fail to capture the hearts of music audiences and critics. Equally known for his interpretations of standard piano repertoire as for discoveries of forgotten musical gems, this sovereign pianist of fiery energy and profiled artistic personality cultivates a particular leaning towards the classical and romantic repertoire and works of pronounced virtuosity.

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REVIEW:

Where has this turn-of-the-20th century composer's amazing piano music been hiding all these years? It's colorful, unabashedly virtuoso, and quite substantial. The 1897 Sonata might be described as Strauss's confident soaring melodies and Rimsky-Korsakov's exoticism served up by Rachmaninov, Busoni, and Medtner jostling for room on the piano bench.

Goran Filipec's performances left me stunned and speechless from the first notes. He commands a transcendental technique and possesses an unflappable sonority that refuses to splinter. The label's vibrant sound does both pianist and composer ample justice. This release cannot be recommended highly enough.

– Gramophone

Beethoven’s compositions for piano duet embrace works written for students as well as those designed for aristocratic acquaintances and friends. This release presents two recordings of the complete works: the first (CD 1) on a modern Yamaha piano, and the second (CD 2) on chronologically accurate reproductions of the fortepianos Beethoven was composing on at the time. The modern piano was recorded in a concert hall, whereas the period instrument recording was made in a much more intimate space, showcasing the salon performance settings of the past.

Alexander Arutiunian was one of the most prominent composers in the USSR, one of the representatives of the Armenian ‘Mighty Handful’ and much admired by Shostakovich. An accomplished pianist, Arutiunian created virtuoso piano works that are rooted in Armenian folk traditions while expressing, in the words of Hayk Melikyan, “a rich palette of emotions reflecting both his time and the history of his nation”. From the Armenian Dance of 1935, with its delicate, transparent texture and strong rhythmic drive, via the more dissonant, neo-classical Polyphonic Sonata, the descriptive Musical Pictures, and the almost Debussyan approach to tonality in the Six Moods, to the simple and beautifully crafted Album for Children of 2004, the works on this recording, the first complete edition, span Arutunian’s entire compositional career.