Komitas was one of the first Armenian musicians to undergo classical Western musical training, in Berlin, in addition to music education in his own country. He published both folksong collections and writings on Armenian church melodies, and his work laid the foundations for the development of a clearly defined national musical style. The Seven Folk Dances evoke the specific timbres of Armenian instruments, the Seven Songs for Piano are fleeting and lyrical while the Twelve Children’s Pieces based on folk-themes are beautifully crisp. Msho-Shoror is one of the most ancient of all Armenian dances.

REVIEW:

These days the most widely known Armenian composers are probably Khatchaturyan and Babajanian but, if you want to hear music that really evokes the scenery, people and cultural heritage of Armenia, look for the works of Komitas – a composer generally regarded as the founder of the Armenian national school of music.

...it is difficult to imagine a specific piano and acoustic better suited to performance of this music and, unless finding this was achieved purely by luck (which I doubt) the search must have taken somebody - probably Mikael Ayrapetyan himself - considerable effort. Whoever it was the results do him much credit.

The last seven pieces were not intended as a set – but composed individually during the period 1899 to 1911 and arranged here for violin and piano by four Armenian composers (including two who were founder members of the Komitas Quartet, referred to above). These are all beautifully and atmospherically played here by Ayrapetyan and a Russian violinist who seems to have a considerable affinity for the Armenian style (although his performance of ‘The Apricot Tree’, which comes third, does not quite displace that of Chilingirian in my affections). Several of these pieces have been arranged for other combinations but they work very well on violin and piano.

Booklet notes are excellent and in English and German. The only problem with this CD is that attempting to listen to all the piano music together is rather too much of a good thing. Interesting though the pieces are, ideally one needs rather greater instrumental variety and it would have been preferable to have the violin and piano pieces spread throughout the disc rather than collected at the end. Perhaps this can most easily be achieved if your CD player allows for random track sequence or programming. At any rate, it is not much of a problem and I can strongly recommend exploring this illuminating and beautifully recorded disc.

-- MusicWeb International

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.

Displaying exceptional musical precocity, the young pianist Maria Szymanowska proved a sensation in Warsaw's salons, before moving to Paris where her fame spread. Greatly admired by her contemporaries, who included Beethoven, Cherubini, Field and Tamasek, she later also cast a spell over the elderly Goethe during one of her many long European tours. Alexander Kostritsa received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is a prizewinner of international piano competitions, including the Premio Rovere d'Oro, the Slavic Music Festival and the Paul Badura-Skoda.

SAINT-SAËNS Allegro after the Third Concerto. Suite, op. 90. Allegro appassionato, op. 70. Thème varié, op. 97. 6 Fugues, op. 161 • Geoffrey Burleson (pn) • GRAND PIANO 605 (53:38)


The piano works of Saint-Saëns are some of the forgotten gems in the pianist’s possible repertoire. Being that the composer was one of the finest pianists in the second half of the 19th century, not only is the music well written for the instrument, it is, at its best, some of the composer’s most finessed and engaging. The current program features pieces written throughout the composer’s career, from the virtuosic transcription of the concerto movement and the Thème varié —both written for piano contests—to the more lighthearted and neoclassical suite. In general, Saint-Saëns’s music necessitates a virtuosic technique; he requires the pianist to maintain lucid textures, careful pedaling, sparkling passagework, and meticulous attention to articulation. In general, Geoffrey Burleson does an admirable job handling all of the many inherent difficulties of this music—just a quick glance at the theme and variations is enough to scare most pianists. What feels right about this program, moreover, is that the pieces are arranged in a way that makes one feel that one is listening to a recital, rather than just a second installment of the complete piano works of this composer. (This volume is just that. The first in the series was reviewed by Lynn René Bayley in Fanfare 35:6.)


The hyper-virtuosic Allegro, op. 29, opens the program. Though Burleson becomes a bit too heavy in some instances and dry in others (a little more pedal here and there might have helped in bringing out details of shifted orchestration on the piano) one can hardly complain about such a fine reading otherwise. The suite, while lighter in mood, contains some very fine moments, from the improvisatory-sounding Prelude to the lively and bouncy Gavotte. Burleson obviously relishes this little masterpiece. The real stars of this program for me, however, are the Thème varié and the fugues. Burleson does a fine job of maintaining a feeling of pulse throughout the entire op. 97, from the simple chorale theme to the more complex figuration in the variations—double notes, arpeggios, octaves, leaps, and the like! The pianist (who is also the author of some fine booklet notes) describes the Six Fugues, op. 161, as “a suite of dynamic character pieces.” I couldn’t agree more. Though one can play them as simple academic etudes, whether studies in composition or instrumental technique, Burleson shows them to be true musical masterpieces, from the quasi-prelude first, through the sprightly and lively third, to the longest and climactic final one. Indeed, performing them as a set just makes sense here. And with performances of these fugues as engaging as the music itself, one can only hope that this release may spur more pianists to play this music. As there is little competition in this repertoire, I am surely glad to add such a fine release to my collection. If you do not know this music, go out and grab this recording. Saint-Saëns is not one to disappoint.


FANFARE: Scott Noriega

Although he is best remembered for his orchestral and instrumental music, Saint-Saens was also responsible for spearheading the revival of the French Baroque, especially the music of Lully and Rameau, as well as being perfectly placed to absorb the latest instrumental dance music. His five "character waltzes" include the ethereal and ravishingly textured Valse mignonne, the stylistically forward-looking Valse nonchalante and the virtuosic Valse gaie, the composer's final waltz for solo piano, while the three minor key Mazurkas are strongly characterized and filled with ingenious musical contrasts. Last but not least, the three "souvenirs" are delightful evocations of particular corners of the world that inspired Saint-Saens.

The works on this first volume of the complete piano works of Mieczysowski range from very early yet characterful Mazurkas and the remarkably intense Lullaby, his Opus 1, to the at times dissonant Piano Sonata No 1.

Stravinsky described Nikolay Roslavets as "the most interesting Russian composer of the 20th century," but after decades of suppression in the former Soviet Union his significance is still being assessed even today through newly discovered and reconstructed works. Although Scriabin's influence can be heard in earlier works, reconstructed works. Although Scriabin's influence can be heard in earlier works, Roslavets' constant experimentation with original and complex compositional techniques resulted in his "new system of tone organization" and "synthetic chords". Olga Andryuschchenko describes Roslavets' daunting piano music as "fire and ice!"

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

Described by Aram Khachaturian as "the greatest Soviet Armenian composer", Haro Stepanian followed the pioneering efforts of composers such as Komitas in establishing a strong national voice for Armenian music. He composed three symphonies, operatic works, numerous songs, chamber pieces, and works for piano. Building on the models of Chopin, Rachmaninov and fellow Armenians such as Komitas and Tigranian, the 26 varied and sharply contrasting Preludes are exquisite folk-influenced miniatures suffused with sadness, poetic contemplation, the natural world and scenes of Armenian life.

REVIEWS:

The Grand Piano engineers conspire with happy results in rendering Ayrapetyan’s admirable way with chiming charms and epic rhetoric.

-- MusicWeb International

Building on the models of Chopin, Rachmaninov and fellow Armenians such as Komitas and Tigranian, these 26 varied and sharply contrasting Preludes from 1947, 1948, 1956 and single from 1964 and 1965 are exquisite folk-influenced miniatures suffused with sadness, poetic contemplation, the natural world and scenes of Armenian life.

-- Records International

…these are what might be termed strong examples of the Socialist Realist aesthetic. Mr Ayrapetyan plays them with a wide palette of tonal color, fine virtuosity, and consummate musicianship. The piano sound is a little boomy and reverberant, but that is better than claustrophobic.

-- American Record Guide

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.

This set of George Enescu’s solo piano music traces a fascinating musical arc from his precocious years in Vienna and Paris, where he absorbed Brahmsian and French late-Romantic influences, notably in the Impromptus, to the brilliantly mercurial Piano Sonata No. 3. Whether in the Pieces impromptus, eloquent character pieces, or in the oceanic Piano Sonata No. 1, Enescu remains, in Pablo Casals’ words, “the greatest musical phenomenon since Mozart,” his unique musical language embracing Bach as well as the abiding vitality, and melancholy, of his native Romanian folk music. As a First Prize winner of the XIII George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest, the XV José Iturbi International Piano Competition and the First European Union Piano Competition, Spanish pianist Josu De Solaun has been invited to perform in distinguished concert series throughout the world, having made notable appearances in Bucharest, Venice, Saint Petersburg, Washington, DC, New York, London, Paris, Leipzig, and all major cities of Spain. He is the only pianist from Spain to win the Enescu and Iturbi competitions in their respective histories, and was recently invited to a private reception with the King and Queen of Spain at the Royal Palace after winning the coveted Bucharest prize.

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Excerpts of reviews for the previously released volumes in thi set:

Enescu: Complete Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 1

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

– AMG

Enescu: Complete Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 2

De Solaun is a wonderful pianist, especially in the colorful worlds of the Second Piano Suite.

– AMG

Enescu: Complete Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 3

De Solaun never makes heavy weather of Enescu’s demanding writing, but lets expression lead at all times, no matter how intense the virtuosity.

– BBC Music Magazine

This is the third and final volume of Türk’s keyboard sonatas.

Classical Music

Grand Piano's Volume 2 of the cycle of complete piano works by the Russian born composer and pianist Alexander Tcherepnin focuses on Tcherpnin's early woks and includes world premiere recordings. Pianist Giorgio Koukl is the Prizewinner of many international music competitions including the H. Rahn competition (Switzerland) and the Alien Competition (Washington DC).

“Türk’s leichte sonatas are both aesthetically accomplished and important to our understanding of the Classical period’s pedagogical practices. Furthermore, the sonatas’ correlation to central stylistic and aesthetic concepts… make their reincorporation into the standard repertoire desirable and perhaps even crucial." – Michael Tsalka

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.

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.

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

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 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 

While living in London in the years 1926-28 Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag, known as Baal HaSulam, a prominent Kabbalist, composed his cycle ‘Melodies of the Upper Worlds’ which are heard in this recording in piano arrangements by Mikael Ayrapetyan. Many of the melodies are composed to text fragments from Kabbalistic sources and enshrine an aspiration to sense the spiritual world in a direct appeal to the heart.

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 a 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.

Tanya Ekanayaka's 'Twelve Piano Prisms' extend the concept heard on her album 'Reinventions: Rhapsodies for Piano.' They correspond to the twelve primary notes of the keyboard, and combine Sri Lankan melodies with music from other countries in a deeply personal representation of diverse cultures; their style inspired not only by a rich heritage of Western classical and indigenous world music, but also by pop, rock and film music. Dr. Tanya Ekanayaka is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning Sri Lankan-British concert composer-pianist regarded as one of Sri Lanka's finest artists. Classically trained and with a background in Asian and Popular music, she is also a linguist, musicologist and record producer. Although she trained as a pianist, her compositional skills are the result of a purely intuitive and natural development.

Glinka wrote a series of delightful polkas, mazurkas, gallops and waltzes that were predominantly intended for fashionable drawing rooms and salons. He also wrote more substantial pieces such as the Grande Valse in G major and the Polonaise in E major which were initially scored for orchestra. Some pieces were also based on pre-existing melodies such as the Variations on a theme of Mozart, which is inspired by a melody drawn from Die Zauberflote and the attractive Tarantella in A minor, a rhythmic adaptation of the Russian folk song ‘In the field there stood a birch tree.’ Inga Fiolia, the Georgian-German pianist, is quickly establishing herself as one of her generation’s most exciting and gifted young concert soloists. Winning first prize at several international piano competitions in Germany, Belgium, and Italy, Inga has also received awards from Piano News, Germany’s leading piano magazine, the Solti Foundation, the German Academic Foundation for Musical Life, and Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now. “Inga Fiolia’s interpretations are powerfully organic, there is no trace of artificiality about the way she concentrates and engages with the work.” (Parisian le petit concertoirleiste)

The four works in this second of three volumes devoted to Enescu's piano music range over a period of more than 30 years. The earliest is the joyful, ebullient Suite "Des cloches sonores", Op. 10 which covers a wide expressive range including use of the melancholy Romanian song, the doina. The Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 24 is a mercurial, puckish works, both spiritred and contemplative, and the Piece sure le nom de Faure is a charming souvenir from one composer to another.

The works in this programme demonstrate Philip Glass' perpetual goal of connecting with his audience. Taking shape as something like a hidden sonata form, Mad Rush contrasts peaceful atmosphere with tempestuousness and mesmerising beauty. The last of it's kind in Glass' oeuvre, 600 Lines, here receiving it's premiere recording on solo piano, is an obsessive and hypnotically restless toccata that represents the zenith of his experiences while working with Ravi Shankar. These two monumental works are joined by premiere recordings of the subtly transformed Metamorphosis Two, and Glass' transcription of Paul Simon's The Sound of Silence.