Ranging from the 18th century to the music of our time, this collection of critically acclaimed recordings explores the significant contribution to solo piano repertoire made by a wide variety of women composers. These rare and important pieces include the works of the celebrated pianist Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy and of Hélène de Montgeroult, whose sonatas are distinctive additions to the Classical and early Romantic periods. Maria Szymanowska’s deft dances contrast with the fearsome demands of Teresa Carreño, herself a great virtuoso. Vítězslava Kaprálová was the most important female Czech composer of the 20th century, while Agathe Backer Grøndahl was one of Norway’s most respected composer-pianists. Tanya Ekanayaka continues the lineage in her own diverse and hybrid pieces.

Volumes included:

Carreño: Rêverie & Selected Music for Piano
Szymanowska: Complete Dances for Solo Piano
Kaprálová: Complete Piano Music
Pioneers: Piano Works by Female Composers
Brillon de Jouy: The Piano Sonatas Rediscovered
Ekanayaka: The Planets & Humanity - Piano ReflectionsMontgeroult: Complete Piano Sonatas
Backer Grøndahl: Piano Works

REVIEWS:

French pianist Nicolas Horvath reveals more of the music of Hélène de Montgeroult, the pianist, composer, and teacher whose background influence on such seminal figures as Chopin and Schumann – and quite possibly Brahms – is only now being acknowledged. Horvath makes appealingly light work of her nine keyboard sonatas, several recorded for the first time.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Nicolas Horvath clearly enjoys de Jouy’s work, and delivers readings which are spirited and lyrical, playful and reflective, easing into the minor mode (in which most of the sonatas were composed) as though at the daybreak of Romanticism. In this particular recording, I was struck by the clarity of sound, which made it easier to hear the evenness and responsiveness of Horvath’s touch.

-- Fanfare

Venezuelan pianist-composer Teresa Carreño had a dramatic, colorful career that is hard to believe. Of the works presented in this fascinating recording, all but one are world premieres. This music has a gentle melancholy. Several of these miniatures have Chopinesque harmonies and perfumes. The album ends on an upbeat note, the composer’s Opus 1, a highly accomplished waltz full of scintillating episodes written for Gottschalk. The latter must have been knocked out by this charmer.

Alexandra Oehler plays with sensitive phrasing and skillful voicing. Her refined musical sensibility is just right for this repertory. The recording, like the music, is warm and inviting.

-- American Record Guide

 

This six album boxed set comprises Tanya Ekanayaka’s Twelve Piano Prisms performed by the composer (GP785); works by Valentin Silvestrov performed by Elisaveta Blumina (GP639); Philip Glass’ piano music played by Nicholas Horvath (GP692); and Haro Stepanian’s Preludes (GP760) and Baal HaSulam’s Melodies of the Upper Worlds (GP808) performed by Mikael Ayrapetyan, alongside the pianist’s own A Whole in 12 (GP809). These contemplative contemporary piano miniatures have been expertly curated from the Grand Piano discography, and are sure to leave listeners and critics alike extremely satisfied.

Past praise for previously released volumes included in this set:

Stepanian: 26 Preludes for Piano / Ayrapetyan

Haro Stepanian was a fellow student of Aram Khachaturian. Stepanian himself was certainly a fine composer, based on this collection of preludes written between 1947 and 1965. There are three sets of eight here, completed in 1947, 1948, and 1956, plus two individual preludes written near the end of his life. His style is consistently folk derived, nothing one could call revelatory, but simply well-crafted work across a broad spectrum of emotional expression. The young Armenian pianist Mikael Ayrapetyan is a very fine advocate for this decidedly obscure music.

-- Fanfare

Ekanayaka: 12 Piano Prisms

Tanya Ekanayaka certainly hits her musical mark with these piano pieces. At times contemplative, sometimes raucous, these works have been injected generously with beauty and Rachmaninoff-like technique and drama. These works are certainly recommended to pianists to program for recitals: not only do they take the audience on a lovely, dark journey through the music of different cultures via the lens of a classically-trained pianist, but they sound enjoyable to play.

-- American Record Guide

Silvestrov: Piano Works / Blumina

Silvestrov seems well served by pianist Elisaveta Blumina. All is played and recorded with close and calmingly fervent engagement. Silvestrov’s surprising but pleasing commitment is to a vocabulary chronologically distant from the predominance of the twentieth century, let alone the twenty-first. If he occasionally sounds briefly like Einaudi it is only to remind us that once we listen for more than a couple of minutes Silvestrov is not a minimalist. In this context he is just a composer, one strand of whose creativity is inextricably in thrall to a style that, while familiar, serves his expressive needs better than any other. It is one dimension of the man.

-- MusicWeb International

Modernity in Russian music emerged despite its struggles with the Soviet regime in the early 20th century, with the mystical vision of Scriabin’s musical legacy providing a foundation on which to build. In these acclaimed albums we discover Medtner’s life affirming Sonatas, and hear Lourié’s journey from Impressionism to pioneering Cubist conceptions. Mosolov’s works are bold and complex, while Roslavets new tonal system brings ‘fi re and ice’, and Stanchinsky’s sophisticated virtuosity anticipates many aspects of 20th-century style. These remarkable works represent a time of profound change in Russian culture that is still being discovered and assessed today.

Past praise for previously released volumes included in this set:

Mosolov: Complete Works for Solo Piano / Andryushchenko

These are outstanding performances of works that deserve to be heard. The sonatas, in particular, are impressive and, though Scriabin’s spirit runs through much of these compositions they are fine works in their own right.

-- The Classical Reviewer

Louriè: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 / Koukl

Arthur Lourie turns out to be a pretty darn good composer—too good to have been left in the attic trunk all these years. The Five Fragile Preludes, Op. 1, have a natural flow to them, and an inevitability that is both rhythmically and harmonically arresting in an impressionism somewhat redolent of Debussy mixed with early Scriabin. While exceedingly brief, they are lovely, perfect jewels. All of this is well described in Anthony Short’s notes, a recording of demonstration quality, and a pianist totally in tune with the music.

-- American Record Guide

Medtner: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2 / Stewart

Paul Stewart’s love and admiration for Medtner’s music come through strongly in these performances, which require a great range of treatment from the gentlest of touches, sometimes merely brushing the keys, whilst at others displaying a towering emotional intensity. His ability to bring out the poetry in Medtner is impressive and the recording is crisp, which combination makes for a hugely satisfying experience.

-- MusicWeb International

Roslavets: Complete Piano Works / Andryushchenko

For those listeners yet to encounter this fascinating figure, please fear not—Roslavets’ work is appealing on a number of levels and you will find much to enjoy on this terrific pair of discs.

-- MusicWeb International

Louriè: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 2 / Koukl

I am glad to have had the opportunity to hear so much of Lourié’s music which is so interesting and so tuneful and so varied it seems he was a chameleon in more than just his assumed persona but in his music as well and it’s all the better for it; variety is the spice of music as well as of life itself. Giorgio Koukl is nothing if not a consistently impressive advocate of whichever composer’s music he takes it upon himself to focus on and I thoroughly recommend this disc to all lovers of solo piano music.

-- MusicWeb International

Stanchinsky: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 / Solovieva

The short-lived Alexey Stanchinsky (1888-1914) has shown up on my Want Lists before, but despite devoted advocacy by a few pianists, his Scriabin-inspired music hasn’t caught on. It’s not clear why: His works are wildly inventive in their treatment of rhythm, harmony, and counterpoint—and while he died before he got to solidify his style, the dizzying sense of adventure in even his earliest works is palpable. May this new release by Olga Solovieva (the first volume of a complete cycle) be the one that turns the tide.

-- Fanfare

Makar Grigori Ekmalian, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov, played a significant role in the development of Armenian music in the 19th and 20th centuries, expanding its genre boundaries and contributing to the formation of a new national musical language. The folk-song arrangements represent Ekmalian’s skill in blending Armenian lyrical expressiveness with European stylistic colors. His magnum opus, the Patarag (Divine Liturgy) was canonized in 1895, and is still in use by the Armenian Church today. This album of world première recordings by the acclaimed Armenian pianist Mikael Ayrapetyan are performed from the composer’s unpublished manuscripts.

REVIEWS:

Ayrapetyan’s dedication to this music is apparent from the first bar. He is committed to bringing to light some unjustly ignored Armenian piano music. I found that the music is well served by his pianism—a delicate, legato touch complemented by some energetic playing. This is a well-recorded, musicologically interesting release.

-- Fanfare

Traditional Armenian music has been transferred into classical music by quite a few composers. Makar Grigori Ekmalian is one of them, and he has transferred the folk material with its lyrical expressiveness into his piano music in a particularly beautiful way. The main work of the Rimsky-Korsakov student, the Patarag (Divine Liturgy), was canonized in 1895 and is still used by the Armenian Church today. A selection of it, along with the 10 Armenian Folk Songs and other pieces, can be heard on a CD with Armenian pianist Mikael Ayrapetyan. The interpretations have a moving character and create a very special atmosphere of well-being in the listener.

-- American Record Guide

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

This new release is the penultimate volume in this acclaimed series of Medtner’s Complete Piano Sonatas performed by series pianist Paul Stewart. Medtner’s 14 piano sonatas, the most significant achievement in this genre by any major composer since Beethoven, span his career. The Sonata-Ballade explores a tempestuous musical allegory – the triumph of Light over Darkness, of Faith over Doubt; while the Sonata in A minor is cast in a single, terse movement, with folkloric elements and frequent use of bell-like features that exude Russianness. By contrast, the ‘Night Wind’ Sonata is a monumental epic of exceptional complexity that stunned Rachmaninov and led composer and critic Sorabji to call it ‘the greatest piano sonata of modern times.’

Polish composer Alfons Szczerbiński was a Romantic who revered Bach, Haydn and Mozart above all others. Many of his scores were lost during the First World War or destroyed by the composer himself. His most extrovert music exudes the panache and rhythmic brio of Chopin whilst his series of Chansons sans paroles display a flair for harmonic fantasy and melodic beauty reminiscent of Mendelssohn. Giorgio Koukl’s second volume of Szczerbiński’s complete piano music reveals yet more discoveries by this unjustly neglected composer.

World premiere recordings of piano works by Jaromír Weinberger, including his Second and Third Piano Sonatas, Valses Nobles, Gravures and three arrangements from Schwanda, the Bagpiper, performed by Gottlieb Wallisch.

REVIEW:

Most music lovers probably only know the opera Svanda Dudak (Schwanda, the Bagpiper) by Jaromir Weinberger (1896-1967), if at all. The Prague-born composer, who fled from the Nazis into American exile, suffered from this during his lifetime. I wonder if that’s why he committed suicide. What is certain is that after the war he was unable to regain a foothold either in his new homeland or in Europe, and that he became depressed as a result of constant failures and health problems. After various hospital stays, Jaromír Weinberger took his own life in 1967 in St. Petersburg (Florida) with sleeping pills.

The piano works that can be heard on this CD were written between 1915 and 1926. They have a French touch, are elegant and rhythmically original. They can be somber and thoughtful, but very often they are playful and even humorous. Above all, they are very imaginative and imaginatively composed. Gottlieb Wallisch plays these works with equal spirit and spontaneity.

This well-recorded collection is really worth owning.

-- Pizzicato (Remy Franck)

Adolf Barjansky was born in Odessa into a wealthy Russian-Jewish family, and received his musical education in Vienna, Paris, and Leipzig, studying piano with Carl Reinecke and Salomon Jadassohn. Barjansky’s compositions focus mainly on solo piano works couched in conventional forms, enhanced by his use of imagery, impressions and spatial sound. The two expansive sonatas in this volume display his fusion of lyricism and poignancy, as well as an adaptable sense of modern harmony. The Moderato in B major is at times suggestive of early Scriabin. Julia Severus continues her acclaimed discovery of this unique and visionary 19th-century composer.

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.

 

Niccolò Castiglioni was one of the most singular figures on the Italian music scene of the latter half of the 20th century. Including world première recordings, Volume 1of this complete edition reveals the exceptional quality of Castiglioni’s early piano works, the cantabile solemnity found in his exploration of twelve-tone techniques, and the quest for simplicity in later pieces that include the Seconda sonatina discovered among the composer’s papers after his death. The acclaimed pianist Aldo Orvieto has recorded and performed extensively throughout his career and is a specialist in Italian 20th-century repertoire.

Niccolò Castiglioni’s music has at its heart a quest for different timbres and new musical perspectives. After the neo-Classical exercises of his student years he moved towards serial techniques with explorations of contrast and transformation. Castiglioni made his name with Inizio di movimento, consolidating this with Cangianti in which the piano becomes a ‘lyrical instrument of the most tender poetry’. The award-winning Italian pianist Aldo Orvieto continues his survey of piano works by one of Italy’s most unique 20th-century composers.

The award-winning Italian pianist Aldo Orvieto continues his exploration of piano works by Niccolò Castiglioni – one of Italy’s unique 20th-century composers. Includes two world premiere recordings. Volume 1 is available on GP862.

This second and final volume of Olga Solovieva’s complete edition contains all of Alexey Stanchinsky’s published piano pieces composed after 1910, as well as recently discovered early works and numerous world premiere recordings. ‘Stanchinsky’s music is like an exposed nerve, all at the limits of the senses. It reveals the innermost feelings, expressing what is in the soul.’ – Olga Solovieva. Released in November 2019, Volume 1 of Stanchinsky’s piano works (GP766) received wide critical acclaim.

Listen to an excerpt now! 

 Writes Olga Solovieva: “Stanchinsky’s piano music is an unparalleled phenomenon. His talent is vivid and his music melodic in nature. It connects the musicality of the Baroque and Romantic eras with the uniqueness of Russian folk music. His melodies are characterised by a special sinuous quality, which relates it to ancient Russian church music. This second volume of Stanchinsky’s complete piano works includes all of the published works written after 1910, during the last four years of his short life, and also contains the premiere recordings of Stanchinsky's early pieces, which were recently discovered. Some of the later works are tragic in tone but their finales are always enlightened, providing hope; in the finale the music achieves peace with either a light conclusion, or a heroic conclusion. In the last two decades, the interest in Stanchinsky’s music has been increasing, and I believe that a new complete critical edition of his piano music is now very much needed.”

The music of Nimrod Borenstein (b. 1969) is becoming increasingly popular on concert stages worldwide and on record, with a series of high-profile commissions and performances in recent years. The two sets of Études featured on this album are inspired by the model of Chopin. Tra Nguyen is a British-Vietnamese pianist whose career has taken her to prestigious venues worldwide. Her six-volume edition of Raff’s piano music is available on Grand Piano (GP728X).

REVIEW:

Judging from this disc’s contents, Borenstein certainly knows how to write idiomatically and effectively for piano. His two books of Etudes address specific techniques, textures, styles, and moods.

I was especially taken with The Melancholic Mobile, the third piece from Reminiscences of Childhood. Here repeated phrases in the piano’s high register give way to rhythmic displacements that resemble phase shifting. Once the lower registers kick in, the music goes into scrambled Schumann mode, but eventually returns to the opening section’s simplicity. Likewise, high-register rhythmic juggling characterizes the disc’s closing Lullaby. My only quibble is that these piano works operate on similar and not very wide-ranging emotional levels, despite the composer’s unquestionable cleverness and facility.

Pianist Tra Nguyen seems to be an ideal advocate for this repertoire. She brings the three-dimensional textures to life through her masterful scaling of dynamics, astute ear for textural differentiation, and colorful pedaling. Pianists seeking technically challenging yet musically accessible contemporary repertoire that is both virtuosic and lyrical at the same time will want to check out Nimrod Borenstein, who enhances this excellently engineered disc with his own articulate and unpretentious annotations.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

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.

Nino Rota's iconic score for The Godfather is typical of his neo-Classicism - or 'Classical modernist' language - a cosmopolitan and functional musical style inspired by his teachers Pizzetti and Casella. This second and final volume of Rota's solo piano music ranges from Ippolito gioca, an early piece celebrating Pizzetti's 50th birthday, to a large-scale Variations and Fugue on the name Bach that concludes with a four-part fugue. The psychologically expressive music Rota composed for Federico Fellini's film Il Casanova is also featured, alongside the piece Moliere from his music for the ballet Le Moliere imaginaire.

The music of multi-award-winning composer Vincent Ho has been described by The New York Times as 'brilliant and compelling', not least for his music's beauty and expressive breadth. Ho wrote The Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animals as a gift for his eight-year-old daughter, to enrich her musical education as she learned the piano and to introduce her to Chinese cultural themes and performance practices in pianistic form. The cycle presents the musical spirits of the animals with captivating musical caricatures in two books, the second of which is a selection of preludes and fugues for more advanced players. They are performed by Tony Yike Yang, one of Canada's finest young pianists and the youngest laureate in the history of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

Joachim Raff was a largely self-taught composer whose style stands somewhere between the German traditionalism of Schumann and the newer school of Wagner. Raff composed seven Suites for Piano, a form he preferred to the sonata, and this provided him with greater freedom as a composer, resulting in his most substantial contribution to the piano literature. This is reflected in the Mendelssohn-like lyricism of the First Suite; contrasts between Baroque and Romantic styles in the Third Suite, a piece admired by Liszt; and more nationalist inclinations in the memorably melodic Fifth Suite.

Jos� Antonio Bottiroli's prot�g� and greatest champion, Fabio Banegas, presents this fourth volume of his mentor's complete piano works. In this wide-ranging collection we hear works with orchestra and with chamber ensemble, as well as pieces for piano solo and duo. Symphonic Impressions for piano and orchestra offers lyricism and virtuosity, while the remainder of the programme focuses on Bottiroli's contrapuntal mastery, the creative refashioning and expansion of earlier works, and his use of Argentine folk dances such as the chamam�. Together they present musical mementos of his own life experience.

Vittorio Rieti won esteem for his orchestral music which was conducted by titans such as Toscanini and Stokowski, but the piano remained his greatest musical love. Rieti's vivid freshness can be appreciated in the selections in this volume, which ranges from the choreographed movement of his late works, including the Variazioni enarmoniche - an example of his elegance, humour and command of variational form - to the deliciously descriptive wit of his early works. Giorgio Koukl, whom The Art Music Lounge called 'one of the five or six greatest living pianists today', is once again joined by award-winning pianist, Virginia Rossetti - together they offer 'an object lesson in duo-piano balance' (Fanfare on Volume 2 in this series, GP938).

Viennese composer, conductor, and pianist Wilhelm Grosz was a musician of remarkable versatility and wide-ranging influences. He attracted critical praise as a composer from an early age with the technically formidable Symphonic Variations on an Original Theme, acclaimed as "a dramatic tone painting expanding to symphonic grandeur - on only one instrument." The Kleine Sonate is marked by great depth and clarity of expression, while the waltz transcriptions tapped into a craze for Johann Strauss II in 1930s London. The highly original Three Pieces was rediscovered just before this recording was made.

Award-winning Polish composer, Pawel Lukaszewski, is one of today's most distinctive creators of contemporary sacred music. The Nocturnes for piano, based on some of his own sacred pieces, are inspired by the cosmos, with each nocturne named after a newly discovered bright star in constellations including Vela, Scorpius and the Southern Cross. Lukaszewski takes the listener on a journey through the beauty of the night sky with these intimate and atmospheric sound paintings.

Armande de Polignac was one of an unprecedented number of female composers emerging at the beginning of the 20th century. With training from the likes of Gabriel Faur� and Vincent d'Indy, she was able to devote her life to music at the highest level of professionality. From the introspective early Pr�ludes via the luxuriant, Russian-infused �chapp�es to the remarkable sonic realism of Cloches, these recordings reveal Armande de Polignac as one of the greatest French female composers of her time.

Jouni Somero's acclaimed survey of Palmgren's complete piano works continues with this eighth volume (of ten) in the series. The album features a diverse range of styles from concert studies to country dances, and all but one of the tracks are world premiere recordings.

Franz Xaver Mozart, who studied with Salieri and Hummel, was a composer-pianist like his father, Wolfgang Amadeus, but inevitably laboured under the weight of huge expectation. This album contains his largest work for solo piano, the Piano Sonata in G major - an assured, distinctive piece that balances dance with drive. His most virtuosic work is the exuberant Fantasy on a Russian Song and a Krakowiak, while his mischievous Variations on a Russian Theme and the variations on his father's Don Giovanni illustrate Franz Xaver's great gifts for elaboration and playfulness. Robert Markham, who has conducted research into the life and music of Franz Xaver Mozart, has been hailed as a performer of 'astonishing lucidity and coherence' by Musical Opinion.