With this LP IBA is beginning to release a new series of live concert recordings from the immense sound/video archive of Idil Biret from the 1950s to 2020. On the first LP Schumann's Fantasie Op. 17 from the New York concert at Alice Tully Hall in 1972 and Liszt's Sonata in B minor from the Paris concert at Salle Gaveau in 1978 are included. Two performances of these works were significant milestones in Biret's concert career, opening up to her the stages of the Soviet Union and East Germany.

Idil Biret's first concerto recording

Idil Biret who arrived in Paris at the age of seven and a half, unable to read music but playing Mozart's C major concerto as she will never play better. It was played by a great artist who happened to be a little girl who could not read music. One played her a piece of music once or twice and she knew it all. (Nadia Boulanger, Paris 1973)

With Pierre Boulez's 2nd Piano Sonata Idil Biret not only makes her American recording debut, but also presents the first U.S. recording of this important contemporary work. Composed in 1948, this sonata occupies a position that exerted a causative influence upon Boulez's subsequent music. It's experimental and ground-breaking nature may be better understood if one regards it as having grown out of a response to Webern's Variations (1936), the companion piece on this album. The rigid, geometric patterns of Webern's work, the classical purity of it's encompassing organization, seems to have served as a base of departure for Boulez's broadened structures that are equally rigid but incomparably more complex. It is this very complexity that conceals the strict framework of the entire composition and projects it as the product of an ardent improvisatory impetus. It demands from it's interpreter a similar approach, along with technical prowess and intellectual control of the highest order. It was only a matter of course that this work, together with influences emanating from other sources (chiefly John Cage), should lead the path not only to open-form and aleatory compositions, including Boulez's own 3rd Piano Sonata, but also, through it's new pianistic language, urge the development of a whole new generation of virtuoso pianists. (Ilhan Mimaroglu, 1973)

This LP is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Ersin Onay, the Dean of the Music Faculty of Bilkent University who organised the Ravel Concertos performances of Idil Biret with maestro Jean Fournet in the 1990s

After listening for a while (to orchestral music on the radio) Idil would detect the main melody and then play it on the piano with one finger. Afterwards, when she reached the age of four, she would play these with two hands and with the correct harmony. Bach preludes and fugues from the Well Tempered Clavier, for example, which even the talented musicians took considerable time to study and memorise, were mastered by Idil in only a few days after listening once or twice, after which she would play these without a single wrong note. (Leman Biret, 1988)

Bach published during his lifetime four volumes of keyboard pieces under the title Clavierubung which began with a set of six Partitas, published between 1726 and 1731. The first of the set was the Partita No. 1 in B flat major. The Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, was apparently written during Bach's time at Cothen, probably about 1720, and revised in Leipzig about 1730. The six English Suites, the 3rd being included here, have nothing particularly English about them, except their title. They were written perhaps in Weimar in about 1715 or possibly during Bach's period at Cothen. Bach brought together a set of five French Suites, of which the 5th is Biret's favourite, later augmented to six and forming part of the Clavierbuchlein for Anna Magdalena, his second wife. The Italian Concerto in F major was published in 1735 in the second volume of the Clavierubungen, with the original title Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto. It reflects the style of the Venetian solo concertos by Vivaldi.

The centerpiece of the Bach collection is a 2015 recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier, the so- called old testament of piano music, a series of 48 preludes and fugues in all of the piano's possible keys. A look at that monumental collection's recorded history could serve as a compendium of piano performance styles through the last 120 years. Unsurprisingly, Biret conforms to none, and perhaps the best way to describe her interpretations is orchestral. As the historically informed Baroque practitioners prescribe, each prelude and fugue certainly has a distinct character, but those long lines emerge with the definition of strings, brass or winds, lush and strident by turn. Trills are mellow and exquisitely shaped, and a wealth of detail is present but never exaggerated. Biret's Bach is a cliff wall to be scaled, a peak to be reached and an aspiration to be achieved.

Idil Biret was introduced very early to the music of Bach. At the age of three she was trying to play from ear the preludes of Bach from the Well Tempered Clavier which her mother played on their upright piano and drawing his picture in her note book. In her memoires, Idil's mother Leman Biret writes: "After listening for a while to orchestral music on the radio Idil would detect the main melody and then play it on the piano with one finger. Afterwards, when she reached the age of four, she would play these on the piano with two hands and with the correct harmony. Bach preludes and fugues from the Well Tempered Clavier, for example, which even the talented musicians took considerable time to study and memorise, were mastered by Idil in only a few days after listening once or twice, after which she would play these without a single wrong note. "Then, at the age of four her teacher Mithat Fenmen played for Idil on an 78rpm record by Edwin Fischer the Prelude and Fugue in F minor from the Well Tempered Clavier Book II. She says that Bach's music has been a part of her life ever since that day. In 1946, at the age of five, she played the D Minor Piano Concerto of Bach with a string quartet at the Ankara Radio, a work that would be a staple of her concert programs from then on. "The remarkable evening began with D Minor Piano Concerto of J.S. Bach. The concerto required, from the very first measure, agile, precise dexterity from the pianist. Idil Biret took the challenge with a ravishing pulse which carried one away. How this artist combines the strict discipline of the score with the capacity to build sovereign forms is exemplary. Energetically, she drove the flanking Allegro movements forward and dwelled on the song like beauties of the Adagio with concentrated abandon." Dietrich Wolf DRESDNER NEUESTE NACHRICHTEN (Germany) 1996

“All the works [on this LP] require a pianist of true class, because each of them presents challenges demanding something quite different from traditional technique. It has to be said that the young Idil Biret exceeds all expectations. This Turkish artist appeared in Brussels (1959) at the tender age of eighteen. Her virtuosity is astonishing, encompassing clarity, rhythmical rigour, precision and strength or delicacy, as required. She can play at great speed and maintain runs of impeccable luminosity. Her flexible touch conjures a thousand surprising effects; some notes and chords explode like whip-cracks, while others caress the keys, and there is an extraordinary purity to her polyphonic playing. In the hands of an artist of such superior qualities, the very particular characteristics of both Bartók's and Prokofiev’s piano writing are brought out to the full. Taking into account her passionate vitality and lively musical intelligence as well, I believe her talent offers more than enough to be met not simply with satisfaction but with genuine enthusiasm.”

Igor Stravinsky' Three Movements from Petrouchka is a musically challenging and unusually difficult score which has to intimidate any pianist in his right mind.

In November 1949, at age eight, Idil Biret entered the studios of ORTF in Paris and made her first recordings. + In the following decades she made over eighty LPs and CDs – released on ten record labels – and many additional recordings for radio and television around the world. + These included the complete piano works of Brahms, Chopin and Rachmaninov, as well as the Etudes of Ligeti. + The Idil Biret Archive (IBA) is bringing together and issuing as many of her recordings as possible on both CD and digitally. + The IBA is distributed worldwide by Naxos.

The Turkish pianist Idil Biret was one of the greatest child prodigies of the 20th century. Her recital at the Boston Conservatory demonstrated that she is no less prodigious today. She played a long and demanding program with the power, concentration. 747313127177 NXS8571271.2 14507984 .00 14.99 .21 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/30/2009 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/8/2/5/1525282.jpg 4 1 N CORELLI / TEMMINGH CORELLI A LA MODE 812864017984 OEHM598.2 14554421 .00 14.99 .23 OEHMS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/30/2009 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/9/2/5/1525292.jpg 5 1 N GAN-RAU / MODERN WORKS FALL OF BAGHDAD: STRING QUARTETS NOS 1 4 & 5 China' first avant-garde composer and one of the most original composers of his generation, Ge Gan-Ru, studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music before obtaining his doctorate from Columbia University in the USA. The composer notes that he 'often. 747313060375 NXCH8570603.2 14508189 .00 19.99 .19 NAXOS CHINESE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/30/2009 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/7/2/5/1525276.jpg 11 1 N LESSER,CLARE / LESSER,DAVID CHANTICLARE A most remarkable CD, demonstrating the real avant-garde in vocal music, requiring phenomenal levels of vocal virtuosity. The performance by Clare Lesser is awesome and an object lesson in how to interpret challenging material. 809730210228 METI92102.2 14543654 .00 14.99 .22 METIER COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 07/14/2009 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/7/2/2/1532275.jpg 24 1 N KNECHT / KAMMERCHOR STUTTGART / BERNIUS DIE AEOLSHARFE 409350832208 CARU83220.2 14544163 .00 37.99 .37 CARUS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 07/14/2009 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/8/2/2/1532286.jpg 3 3 N WERNICK / STAROBIN / INT'L CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE MUSIC OF RICHARD WERNICK 090404930324 BRI9303.2 14542114 .00 18.99 .21 BRIDGE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 07/14/2009 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/52/1439552-2553002.jpg 8 1 N NEW LONDON CONSORT / PICKETT ARS SUBTILIOR 5020305600397 LINN39.2 06155797 .00 20.99 .25 LINN RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL EARLY MUSIC / CHANT 02/23/1999 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/6/5/0/1910564.jpg 2 1 N JESSIMAN,ALASTAIR / BARRETT,SEAN / PIAZZA CLUMSY GHOST & OTHER SPOOKY TALES In this entertaining anthology of seven new ghost stories, written especially for Naxos Audiobooks, we meet all kinds of phantoms in different situations: A kind-hearted but accident-prone spectre unwittingly upsetting a family home, as well as ghosts in ancient Egypt, on board a pirate ship, and in a Newcastle swimming pool. Engaging and slightly sinister, the Clumsy Ghost and Other Spooky Tales is a delightful shiver for all the family. 9781843795049 NAB54AB 16111844 .00 19.98 .24 NAXOS AUDIO BOOKS AUDIO BOOKS CLASSICAL AUDIO BOOKS / BOOKS ON CD 10/25/2011 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/80/1358180.jpg 0 2 N SWEDISH SWING SOCIETY AT HOME 7330658000873 STEL9321.2 20373634 .00 20.99 .13 SITTEL COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 08/23/2010 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/0/5/0/1910500.jpg 5 1 N ALTER / LARS ERSTRAND QUARTET EVERYTHING IS FINE 7330658000835 STEL9317.2 20038298 .00 32.99 .26 SITTEL COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/04/2009 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/8/4/0/1910486.jpg 3 1 N SJOSTEDT,MARTIN SLOW CHARLES 7330658000736 STEL9305.2 20383237 .00 20.99 .19 SITTEL COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 11/03/2008 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/7/4/0/1910472.jpg 6 1 N PETTERSSON / DUKE / GERSHWIN / KARLSSON / VINDING GETTING CLOSE TO YOU 7330658000422 STEL9278.2 20312879 .00 20.99 .15 SITTEL COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 11/03/2008 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/5/4/0/1910457.jpg 8 1 N LORRAIN / JAEGER / TORONTO PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE SHADOW BOX 773811328822 CCD3288.2 01734546 .00 18.99 .25 CENTREDISCS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 08/25/1993 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/1/3/0/1580317.jpg 5 N MORAWETZ,OSKAR VOCAL WORKS 773811358928 CCD3589.2 01734577 .00 18.99 .27 CENTREDISCS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 08/25/1993 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/2/3/0/1580320.jpg 4 N BRITTEN / GOSSKOR / FREDRIKSSON IN THE BLEAK MID-WINTER 822659011394 SWED1139.2 20038649 .00 20.99 .23 SWEDISH SOCIETY COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 11/14/2007 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/4/4/0/1910443.jpg 17 1 N SANDSTROM / NORRBOTTEN CHAMBER ORCH / WOLLTER FRAN MORKER TILL LJUS 822659011363 SWED1136.2 20371388 .00 20.99 .25 SWEDISH SOCIETY COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 10/15/2007 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/3/4/0/1910439.jpg 5 1 N FRYKLOF / GUSTAFSSON COMPLETE WORKS FOR ORGAN 822659011295 SWED1129.2 20038595 .00 20.99 .25 SWEDISH SOCIETY COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/08/2007 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/3/4/0/1910438.jpg 7 1 N PIAZZOLLA / DELLE-VIGNE ASTOR PIAZZOLLAS BEST TANGOS Astor Piazzolla' tangos, beloved around the world for their pathos, passion, longing and sensibility, are here given fresh interpretations in arrangements for piano by the Argentinean-born, Brussels-based pianist Aquiles Delle-Vigne. 747313233175 NXS8572331.2 15279057 .00 19.99 .18 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 09/28/2010 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/8/1/9/1719180.jpg 2 1 N TANENBAUM / ENSEMBLE PI KEEP GOING: THE MUSIC OF ELIAS TANENBAUM 736211460936 RAVL7807.2 15279194 .00 13.99 .20 RAVELLO COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 09/28/2010 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/9/1/9/1719198.jpg 4 1 N LEHAR / MOERBISCH FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA / MAURER DER ZAREWITSCH 4260034867703 OEHM770.2 15279132 .00 14.99 .25 OEHMS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL OPERA / OPERETTA / ORATORIO 09/28/2010 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/2/2/9/1719229.jpg 97 1 N RESPIGHI / MUSTONEN / ORAMO / FINNISH RADIO SO CONCERTO IN MODO MISOLIDIO FONTANE DI ROMA 761195116524 OND1165-2.2 15246172 .00 18.99 .23 ONDINE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 09/28/2010 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/3/2/9/1719239.jpg 6 1 N KOVACS / DONATONI / BASSETT / KOMIVES / HARTIG CHALUMEAU 044747296524 CAV2965.2 14737640 .00 18.99 .20 CENTAUR COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 10/27/2009 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/6/4/1/1571462.jpg 13 1 N VIVALDI / MCMURTRY / HUHTANEN / MCLEOD / MALLON SACRED MUSIC -MAGNIFICAT 3 / NISI DOMINUS Vivaldi' sacred music occupies a place of honour in his vast output, dovetailing passages of great tenderness and sombre beauty, rich in cantabile expressiveness, with highly operatic movements of colourful and exciting virtuosity. 747313044573 NXS8570445.2 13956387 .00 19.99 .25 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 09/30/2008 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/4/8/1/1411848.jpg 34 1 N HAYDN / OELZE / WEIR / LIKA / NORRINGTON / COE CREATION HOBXXI:2 881488707458 PROL7074.2 13959890 .00 24.99 .25 PROFIL - G HAENSSLER COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 09/30/2008 http://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/5/8/1/1411854.jpg 10 2 N CLASSICAL DREAMS / VARIOUS CLASSICAL DREAMS / VARIOUS 881488806557 PROL8065.2 13960827 .00 54.99 .25 PROFIL - G HAENSSLER COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL V/A COMPILATIONS 09/30/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/38/1308038.jpg 9 3 N RAVEL / SAINT-SAENS / FOURNET / BILKENT SO / BIRET IDIL BIRET RAVEL EDITION 3 - PIANO CONCERTOS The Turkish pianist Idil Biret was one of the greatest child prodigies of the 20th century. Her recital at the Boston Conservatory demonstrated that she is no less prodigious today. She played a long and demanding program with the power, concentration.

Schonberg, insisting on the legitimate interest that attaches to every aspect of the life and person of a great man, once said he would have liked to see how Mahler tied his tie.

Biret grasps the size of Beethoven' style. The polyphony is laid out in a relaxed way with little indulgence in point making. She keeps the big line and yet is thankfully sparing in her use of fortissimos. The piano tone is sumptuous.