Volume 1 of the complete Piano Sonatas of Mily Balakirev includes the first recording of Op. 3 and the first recording of Op. 5 using the original manuscript and without the mistakes to be found in the two published scores. English pianist Nicholas Walker infuses these works with his characteristic knowledge and great technical acumen.

The last disc in Brewster Franzetti's highly acclaimed four single disc survey includes the deeply expressive, technically challenging and superbly varied Sonatas Nos. 5 (1956) and 6 (1960), the last of Weinberg's numbered sonatas.

Giorgio Koukl's survey of Alexander Tcherepnin's inventive piano music continues with two 1950s collections that reflect a synthesis of the composer's many earlier technical and expressive innovations - the virtuosic Eight Pieces, Op. 88 and the beguiling Expressions, Op. 81.

Drawn from different parts of Tcherepnin's life, the Entretiens display distinct cinematic qualities. With their exhaustive range of expression the Twelve Preludes vividly demonstrate the multi-faceted genius of their composer. The Romances contrast tenderness and warmth with unsettling moods and the Five Concert Etudes show an infatuation with all things Chinese.

Alfred Cortot: Piano Arrangements

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

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

Koželuch: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2

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

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

Norwegian composer SVEIN HUNDSNES has written a considerable number of works ranging from concertos to pieces for young musicians. His piano music is stylistically wide-ranging and occupies a significant place in his oeuvre. Piano Sonata No. 2 exemplifies his practice of working from tiny core motifs as he makes a series of connections between each vivid movement. Syncopated rhythms animate Vinterdanser (‘Winter Dances’) – a sequence of round dances; whereas torches swirling in the air, a cradle song and clouds of illuminated water particles are magically evoked in Nuances de Lumière (‘Shades of Light’). Finnish pianist Laura Mikkola, continues her critically acclaimed discovery, in this second volume of Hundsnes’ piano works.

The Hungarian-born composer TIBOR HARS�NYI is now recognized as an important personality in 'L'�cole de Paris'. He had a lifelong interest in modern dance, represented here by the Petite suite and Trois Pi�ces de danse, and he also embraced jazz, which was part of the Parisian atmosphere of the inter-war period, and other influences, while keeping the Central European rhythms and tonalities of his Hungarian origins. The Trois Pi�ces lyriques is a rare example of Hars�nyi expressing torment during the turbulent years of the Second World War. GIORGIO KOUKL is a pianist/harpsichordist and composer. He studied at both the Conservatories of Z�rich and Milan, where he took part in the masterclasses of Nikita Magaloff, Jacques F�vrier, and Stanislaus Neuhaus, and with Rudolf Firku�n�, friend and advocate of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu. It was through Firku�n� that Koukl first encountered Martinu's music, and is now considered one of the world's leading interpreters of Martinu's piano music. As a logical continuation of this work, Koukl has recorded the complete solo piano works of Paul Le Flem, Alexander Tcherepnin, Arthur Louri�, V�tezslava Kapr�lov�, Witold Lutoslawski, and more recently, Alexandre Tansman and Tibor Hars�nyi.

Mili Alekseyevich Balakirev was the influential leader of the Russian "Mighty Handful" of composers that set the standard by which others were judged. Revealing both Balakirev's admiration of Chopin and love of music with a deeply Russian character, this program ranges widely from new discoveries such as the early Nocturne in G-Sharp Minor to one of his last pieces, the heroic 7th Waltz. There are also beautifully simple gems such as the Chant du Pecheur and works of technical brilliance such as the Valse de concert and the magnificent and visionary 2nd Nocturne.

Iranian Composer Afshin Jaberi's Powerful Music Combines 19th Century Western Piano Traditions with Eastern Melodic Influences. It Is Strongly Connected with the Message of Equality and Peaceful Unity Promoted By His Religious Faith. The Bab Ballades Depict Dramatic Heroism and Tragic Sacrifice, While the Sonatas Express the Horrors of War and the Fragility of Remote Cultures, Out of Which New Hope and the Chance for Reconciliation Can Emerge. Art Was Always the Center of My Life; I Was Always Attracted to Beauty and Striving Towards Harmony; the Music in This Recording Was a Beginning of a Spiritual Journey, a Journey of Faith, Sacrifice, a Path of Life with Deep Emotional Affections... They Were My Remedy Facing the Hardships and Calamities and Challenges of My Life. - Afshin Jaberi.

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

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