This is one of those discs that makes me want to shout with delight... A wonderful disc altogether!

This is one of those discs that makes me want to shout with delight. Not only is it the piano music of a neglected but brilliant composer but the sub-title Complete Piano Music 1 means there will be more. In fact there will be as many as eight volumes altogether. Hooray!
 
By his late teens, the accompanying booklet explains, Tcherepnin had already composed several hundred pieces. His father, Nikolay was a conductor, pianist and composer and, indeed the genes were passed on to Alexander’s son Ivan who was also a composer. Being born in what, as Confucius would, no doubt, have described as “interesting times”, the family had a difficult life from 1917 when they left for Tbilisi, Georgia, to escape the upheavals of the Russian Revolution, cholera and famine. Then they had to flee Georgia, following its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1921, for Paris where Alexander remained throughout the second world war before finally settling in the USA in 1948.
 
His corpus of work embraces all manner of genres including opera, ballet, orchestral, chamber, solo works, choral, band, music for films and the theatre and even compositions for accordion and harmonica, among others. Though I’ve yet to hear much of it I’ve always been particularly struck by his piano music which I’ve found original and exciting ever since I first heard it on a old vinyl disc. He’s another of those pianist composers from the early twentieth century who became masters of the piano miniature.
 
The disc opens with his 10 Bagatelles, op.5 from 1918, distilled from a much larger number of pieces begun when he was a mere 13 year old, and one of his best known compositions. It comes as no surprise to learn that fact as they are highly inventive and hugely satisfying works possessing a crystalline brilliance accompanied by a propulsive momentum that drives the music forward in a way that becomes almost addictive. They are pieces that stay in the memory for, though I never heard that old disc often and not for many years, I recognised the first two bagatelles as plainly as if I’d only listened to them last week. Years after he had written them Tcherepnin was embarrassed by their success regarding them as juvenile, though he relented later accepting their spontaneity. Artists can sometimes be too self-critical, finding it difficult to accept flashes of genius at an early age. These are certainly examples of that and while you listen just remind yourself that these were composed almost one hundred years ago - unbelievable!
 
Self criticism takes various forms and often includes destruction of works considered unworthy of publication - thank God that didn’t happen with the bagatelles! - and with Tcherepnin that was the fate of the first twelve of his 13 piano sonatas, written in his early teens. The fourteenth, later renumbered as his piano sonata no.1, is the sole survivor and listening to it you can only imagine what has been lost, with regret. It’s a wonderful piece that is rhythmically inventive and exciting and which reveals a creative talent that is simply mind-boggling for someone so young. The booklet’s authors find some similarities with Prokofiev’s earlier Toccata and describe it as “This distinctly Russian-sounding piece ...” I agree with this but also see parallels in Tcherepnin’s compositions with Medtner and aspects of Scriabin, Weinberg and even Shostakovich. With piano compositions of that era from that part of the world there seems to have been an inherent and instinctive prism through which these composers naturally viewed things musical.
 
The 9 Inventions, op.13 (1921) that appear on this disc as a world première recording are further proof of Tcherepnin’s compositional abilities. They are, like the bagatelles, short, brilliantly scored little gems. The booklet’s authors write that “... it is hard for the listener to escape the self-consciousness of the new compositional technique”. I obviously missed out on that and it makes me realise that sometimes it’s better not to be an expert so that I can enjoy things more easily.
 
Tcherepnin’s Sonata no.2, op.94 (1961) has an autobiographical aspect. It gives expression to a frightening episode in which Tcherepnin experienced a strange ringing in his ears. This persisted over two years but eventually disappeared of its own accord. I was not able to discern this in the music but enjoyed it for its own sake as yet more marvellous writing for the piano. Again it serves to emphasise his youthful abilities as this mature work did not leave the early works ‘in the cold’ by any means.
 
The final work on the disc is 10 Études, op.18 (1920) and another world première recording. As I listened to the opening of the first I thought of Chopin. I was interested to read that the booklet noted similarities with Chopin too but also with Prokofiev while others brought Rachmaninov to mind and again Chopin and Prokofiev. Which composer doesn’t draw on influences from others however. Those who make every conscious effort to plough a unique furrow often produce sterile works. These etudes are absolutely fabulous little masterpieces (no.8 lasts a mere 35 seconds!) and they round off the disc in a truly emphatic way. When you realise that these works, while they bear the date of publication of 1920, were in fact written when Tcherepnin was a young teenager you just have to marvel. Music seems to be an art-form that very young people seem able to master at an earlier age than just about any other. It would be staggering to come upon a novel or a painting, sculpture or a play created by anyone as young. On the rare occasions when it does happen we find it just that. In music it happens much more often. I thought of this only yesterday when I heard the string sextet written by the 11 year old Max Bruch.
 
This disc is a simply brilliant introduction to anyone who hasn’t come across Tcherepnin before and who loves 20 ^th century piano music. The works are played superbly by Giorgio Koukl who has already recorded all of Martin?’s piano works to great acclaim. A wonderful disc altogether!
 
-- Steve Arloff, MusicWeb International 

Tcherepnin: Piano Music, Vol. 6

Carl Czerny, a student of Beethoven- whose music remained an inspiration- occupied an important place in the musical landscape of his time as both performer and pedagogue. His own students, such as Liszt, transmitted his teaching principles which were available in a large number of groundbreaking exercises and etudes. Carl Czerny wrote his 30 Etudes de mecanisme, Op 849 (’30 Studies of Technique’) at a time of exceptionally high demand for teaching material. The Studies make use of a limited range of keys but are intended as an introduction for students to the ‘School of Velocity.’ Perfectly placed between his simpler and more virtuosic Studies, Czerny’s Etudes have remained in demand to the present day. The works are performed here by Nicholas Horvath, who is known for his boundary-less musical explorations and his enthusiastic promotion of contemporary music.

Tigran Chukhajian is highly significant in the history of Armenian music: he was the first composer to combine Western and Eastern cultures, and was referred to as the ‘Armenian Verdi’ amongst his contemporaries. Persecution under the repressive Ottoman Turkish regime led to his music being suppressed, but these piano works are a sophisticated testament to Chukhajian’s Romantic inclinations, absorbing the influences of Chopin and Liszt, and enriching them with Orientalist nuances and descriptive themes. Mikael Ayrapetyan is a pianist, composer and producer. He is also the founder and artistic director of the music project Secrets of Armenia, which aims to increase international awareness of Armenian classical music, and actively organizes concerts featuring Armenian music in venues around the world, for which he is producer, artistic director and pianist.

Born in 1984 in Yerevan, Armenia, he studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, and continues to uphold the performing traditions of the Russian piano school, of which Konstantin Igumnov, Samuel Feinberg and Lev Oborin are luminaries. His repertoire ranges from the Baroque to the contemporary and includes rarely performed works by Armenian composers.

REVIEWS:

Ayrapetyan is top notch and is able to communicate both the playful and serious moods in this repertoire. The more serious ‘Caprice’ begins with a melismatic melody, almost improvisational in quality. He plays without too much rhythmic liberty, and is firm but maintains a healthy dose of color and beauty.

-- American Record Guide

For many years the Busoni student Selim Palmgren was the most frequently performed Finnish composer after Sibelius. With a portfolio of nearly 400 piano works, his contribution to the prestige of the Nordic repertoire was significant both in scope and creative artistry. This fifth volume of Palmgren’s complete solo piano music explores oriental moods in Exotic March, Op. 46, and includes two of his best-known and most beautiful pieces, Aftonröster, Op. 47, No. 1 (‘Evening Whispers’) and the winter magic of Snöflingor, Op. 57, No. 2 (‘Snowflakes’). The Sonatine in F major, Op. 93 marked Palmgren’s return to composition after the death of his wife five years earlier and enshrines nostalgia whilst hinting at neo-Classicism.

The range and variety of French piano music in the 19th and 20th centuries is exemplified in these critically acclaimed albums bringing together rarely encountered pieces, a number of which are performed on period instruments. Théodore Gouvy’s little-known sonatas and Benjamin Godard’s fragrant lyricism are part of a lineage that includes the masterful large-scale Piano Sonata of Vincent d’Indy, the virtuosic rarities – many in première recordings – of Saint-Saëns, Satie’s tenderness and wit, and unknown piano versions of some of Debussy’s greatest orchestral masterpieces.

Review excerpts of previously released volumes included in this set:

Gouvy: Sonatas for Piano 4 Hands / Naoumoff, Yau Cheng

Their ensemble and musicality allow these works to be heard in their best light. The sound is excellent and the booklet notes are quite well written.

-- American Record Guide

Saint-Saëns: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 5 / Burleson

Burleson proves to be a fine advocate for this music: He balances just the right amount of elegance and grace with the fieriness that this music requires. And he is a virtuoso par excellence, easily handling the numerous difficulties one finds in this music.

-- Fanfare

Godard: Piano Works, Vol. 2 / Reyes

Reyes’s second volume of Godard’s piano works is as well played and brimming with new discoveries as her first volume. Here we get four nocturnes, two of which look back to Chopin, One (Op 139) looks forward to Poulenc, and the last (Op. 150) looks towards Fauré. The opening work, ‘Reve Vecu’ (Living a Dream) could easily be classified as a nocturne as well. All give Reyes the opportunity to make use of her wonderful legato touch.

-- American Record Guide

A student of Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev and a contemporary of Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, Semyon Alexeyevich Barmotin (1877–1939) flourished in the years before the Russian Revolution. His was probably the first Ballade for solo piano written by a Russian composer and this large-scale work exemplifies his perfect control of expansive form, Lisztian virtuosic impulse and thematic variety. The two sets of Morceaux enshrine other essential elements of his art – folkloric influences, crystalline sonorities and true expressive depth. Christopher Williams’ third instalment in this acclaimed cycle features all world première recordings.

Selim Palmgren studied with Busoni and developed a formidable technique, later becoming one of the leading Nordic composer-pianists of his generation. This fourth volume of Palmgren’s complete piano works reveals yet more remarkable contributions to 20th-century piano literature including one of his masterpieces, the Nocturne in Three Scenes, a compound of Impressionist and Romantic elements. His fruitful years in America are reflected by the jazz-influenced Three Fantasies and throughout one can hear examples of the beautiful folk-based music that is so much a feature of his compositions.

Not only was Manuel Ponce the leading figure in the emergence of Mexican nationalism but his music embodies a wide variety of influences. Nowhere is this more evident than in his writing for solo piano, and this album, the third of eight volumes, explores three specific facets. The first is his youthful concert studies, which are virtuosic, atmospheric and memorably evocative. The second, the Veinte piezas fáciles (‘Twenty Easy Pieces’), consist of ingenious pianistic adaptations of Mexican folk songs and dances, some indigenous. The third element is his personalized use of Romanticism in the form of mazurkas, character pieces and the dazzling Bersagliera. Álvaro Cendoya continues his acclaimed cycle dedicated to the complete piano music of Manuel Ponce.

This collection spotlights six legendary pianist-composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Adolf von Henselt’s ferocious technical studies and Romantic salon pieces led Schumann to dub him ‘the Chopin of the North’. Polish virtuoso Ignaz Friedman’s works offer delightful melodic beauty and harmonic inventiveness set alongside works by his countryman, Józef Hofmann, renowned as a poet of the keyboard. The French master musician Alfred Cortot is represented here with a selection of stylish piano arrangements of works by great composers. As one of Finland’s most respected musicians during the early 20th century, Selim Palmgren displays a wide variety of technical and stylistic challenges with music that is both traditional and visionary; while music by the exiled Russian composer Nikolay Medtner is highly Romantic and spiritually charged. These six towering superstars represent the summit of the piano’s Romantic golden age, heard here in critically acclaimed performances by award-winning pianists.

REVIEWS:

Sergio Gallo's playing of the pleasantly melodic, cantabile salon pieces by the 19th century German-born piano virtuoso, composer, and pedagogue Adolph Henselt (1814-1889) is lively and attractive. He planned this program intelligently to present the listener with variety and contrast as well as the flavor of this composer’s lovely music.

-- American Record Guide

The legendary Swiss pianist Alfred Cortot's (1877-1962) arrangement for solo piano of César Franck’s Violin Sonata, the centerpiece of this program, is a finger-buster, but He Yue doesn’t make a big deal out of it. His reading is very effective, and even exciting. Given the unusual nature of this program, whose contents are much more than adequately presented by the pianist, I’d rate this CD as of more than average interest.

-- Fanfare

Paul Stewart, a long-time champion of Medtner’s music, plays a restored period Steinway actually performed on by the composer himself in 1929 in Montreal. Its tone is well worth hearing, especially in the fine audio on offer here, and Stewart’s even more so: he gives an authoritative, expressive and thoroughly listener-friendly reading of the Medtner works presented here.

-- MusicWeb International

The second CD is dedicated to Ignaz Friedman. Joseph Banowetz plays the original, often somewhat melancholy miniatures with great charm. He succeeds in fine changes of mood and a pleasant depth of feeling.

The third CD contains original compositions by the Pole Jozef Kasimierz Hofmann (1876-1957), whom Rachmaninoff considered the best pianist next to him. His compositions are more characteristic than Henselt’s and technically challenging. Artem Yasynskyy plays them with great commitment and technically at a high level.

Selim Palmgren (1878-1951) was a Finnish concert pianist and conductor of international standing. He was a student of Busoni and composed extensively. Jouni Somero has put together a beautiful program of small pieces that show Palmgren’s art in all its range very well. Somero plays sensitively and with beautiful clarity.

-- Pizzicato

Germaine Tailleferre is best known for being a member of the French circle of composers known as Les Six - the only woman in the group. Her stylish combination of neo-Classicism with a ready wit and energy can be compared to Poulenc and Milhaud. From the captivating Romance written while still a student, to her sparkling music for the 1937 Paris international exhibition, all of these pieces show Tailleferre as being very much at the heart of the contemporary French musical scene. This recording, described by the composer’s granddaughter as being ‘as though Tailleferre herself was performing these works’, is the first of three volumes presenting the complete piano music played by Nicolas Horvath.

REVIEW:

The Monaco-born Horvath’s discographical versatility lends itself to the chameleon Tailleferre: she switches from neoclassical to radical, tonal to bitonal, rhythmic and familiar to irregular and dissonant. Horvath is a great advocate.

-- The Guardian

Gottlieb Wallisch continues his acclaimed survey of jazz-influenced piano literature. In this volume we explore le tumulte noir (‘the Black craze’) for African American music in the French-speaking countries after the First World War, taking us to Paris and Brussels where the mood was hot for dancing. This environment lured writers, composers, intellectuals and artists from all over the world, with American jazz music as the latest rage in the cafes and bistros of the day. The influence of dances from overseas spread like wildfire, taking hold amongst French and Belgian composers eager to free themselves from Germanic Wagnerism while riding the wave of popularity of hit records and cinema.

REVIEW:

Pianist Gottlieb Wallisch’s most enjoyable, ongoing exploration of the early 20th century music and dance craze, the Foxtrot, explores works by composers from France and Belgium. Less familiar names find a place among the famous, including Auric, Ibert, and Dutilleux before the disc moves to Belgium with five ‘World Premiere Recordings’, including a powerful Jazz Fantaisie from August Louis Baeyens.

-- David's Review Corner (David Denton)

His playing throughout is powerfully, emphatically rhythmic, as suits the music.

-- Pizzicato

Praise for prior volumes in this series from The New York Times:

20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 1: Austria & Czechia / Wallisch

While jazz-inspired music by the likes of Stravinsky and Weill has never been forgotten, the similar efforts of dozens of other composers from the same period have fallen into obscurity. Now some of those experiments are enjoying a fresh hearing. Pianist Gottlieb Wallisch’s revealing and entertaining new recording is mostly made up of world-premiere recordings of these dance-oriented works, in their piano arrangements.

20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 2: Germany / Wallisch:

In Wallisch’s latest batch of performances there are once again some discoveries from lesser-known artists. (Multi-movement works by Leopold Mittmann and Walter Niemann are a delight to encounter.) The new album kicks off with a spirited performance of a Paul Hindemith fox trot. And this edition also includes the world premiere recording of a piano arrangement of a “Tango” by Kurt Weill.

20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 3: Central & Eastern Europe

Past editions surprised and delighted in equal measure; this latest album on the Grand Piano label extends the streak. The repertoire is principally devoted to jazz-age classical miniatures crafted in response to the global fascination with then-new dance rhythms. There are some familiar artists in both cases (think Shostakovich and Spoliansky), but also more obscure names: Yevgeny Mravinsky (“Fox-Trot,” 1929) and Alexandre Tansman (“Tempo Americano,” 1931). Who knew? Wallisch did, for one. As did the historian Mauro Piccinini, whose erudite liner notes are another valuable part of this zesty ongoing series.

 

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…”

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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

This third volume of Erik Satie’s complete solo piano music using Satie scholar Robert Orledge’s new Salabert Edition focuses on music composed between 1892-1897, including theatrical scores such as the revolutionary uspud, and the Danses gothiques and famous Vexations written while the composer was hiding from a tempestuous love affair. The period closes with Satie composing in what he called “a more flexible and accessible way withthe final Gnossienne and the six Pieces froides.” Recognized at once as a great interpreter of Liszt’s music, Nicolas Horvath became in recent years one of the most sought after pianists of his generation. Holder of a number of awards, like the 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.

Cartas Celestes (Celestial Chairs) is a colossal 18-movement cycle of works depicting celestial bodies to be seen in the Brazilian sky, for which Almeida Prado, one of Brazil's most prolific and best-known composers, invented a new harmonic language called "transtonality". Dense and rhythmically charged and saturated in the richest colors, Nos. 4, 5 and 6 complete the composer's portrayal of the planets.