Piano Classics

Cui: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 2

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Details

Composer
Cesar Cui
Artist
Paul Rickard-Ford
Format
CD
Discs
2
Label
Piano Classics
Released
May 15, 2026
Catalog #
PCL10354
UPC
5063758103541

About

This valuable revival of the piano music by Cesar Cui began with a 2CD volume played by Marco Rapetti (PCL10211), surveying the composer's early output from 1877 to 1888. Born in what is now Vilnius, capital of modern-day Lithuania, Cui began to learn the piano as a child, initially from his elder sister. His first and last compositions were written for the piano, and he produced 29 opus numbers for the instrument (the total opus catalogue reaches 106). The Australian pianist Paul Rickard-Ford now moves the project on with a chronological survey from the Quatre Morceaux Op. 22 of 1883 to the Theme and Variations Op. 61, from 1901. Dedicated respectively to Theodore Leschitzky and to Josef Hofmann, these pieces show how admired Cui was in his day, even if he is now generally treated as the forgotten member of the 'Mighty Handful' group of Russian composers. One of Liszt's final works was a piano transcription of Cui's orchestral Tarantelle Op. 12. Other collections on the album are dedicated to Anton Rubinstein (the two Polonaises Op. 30) and to Hans von Bülow (three Impromptus Op. 35), as well as a charming pair of Bluettes Op. 29 dedicated to the Countess de Mercy-Argenteau, who was Cui's generous patron and indefatigable supporter outside Russia. Many of the pieces here are receiving their world-premiere recordings, such as the four pieces composed in 1900-01 and collected as Op. 60. They include a Polka, a Novelette, a Mazurka, and a Polonaise: all familiar genres, which Cui inflected with his individual brand of Russian-accented lyricism, ultimately drawing on an early-Romantic lexicon of expression formulated by Chopin and Schumann. Thus all the music here belongs to the salon, designed first and foremost to charm and to entertain. Paul Rickard-Ford has been on the staff of the Sydney Conservatorium for more than thirty years and was Chair of the Piano Unit from 2006 to 2016. His discography includes the Années de pèlerinage of Liszt, as well as recitals of Chopin and Schumann.

Tracklist 26 tracks

  1. 1 No. 1. Polonaise 08:33
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 1. Polonaise
    Duration
    08:33
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  2. 2 No. 2. Bagatelle Italienne 01:27
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 2. Bagatelle Italienne
    Duration
    01:27
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  3. 3 No. 3. Nocturne 06:21
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 3. Nocturne
    Duration
    06:21
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  4. 4 No. 4. Quasi Scherzo 05:34
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 4. Quasi Scherzo
    Duration
    05:34
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  5. 5 Valse-Caprice, Op. 26 12:18
    Track
    5
    Title
    Valse-Caprice, Op. 26
    Duration
    12:18
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  6. 6 No. 1. Valse 06:38
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 1. Valse
    Duration
    06:38
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  7. 7 No. 2. Scherzando Giocoso 05:40
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 2. Scherzando Giocoso
    Duration
    05:40
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  8. 8 No. 1. Allegretto 07:59
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 1. Allegretto
    Duration
    07:59
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  9. 9 No. 2. Allegretto 06:15
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 2. Allegretto
    Duration
    06:15
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  10. 10 No. 1. Allegro 05:17
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 1. Allegro
    Duration
    05:17
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  11. 11 No. 2. Allegretto 02:03
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 2. Allegretto
    Duration
    02:03
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  12. 12 No. 3. Allegretto Mosso 07:16
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 3. Allegretto Mosso
    Duration
    07:16
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  13. 13 No. 1. Allegro 04:04
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 1. Allegro
    Duration
    04:04
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  14. 14 No. 2. Allegro 03:29
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 2. Allegro
    Duration
    03:29
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  15. 15 No. 3. Allegretto Mosso 05:51
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 3. Allegretto Mosso
    Duration
    05:51
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  16. 16 No. 1. Prélude 01:57
    Track
    16
    Title
    No. 1. Prélude
    Duration
    01:57
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  17. 17 No. 2. Petit Caprice 03:13
    Track
    17
    Title
    No. 2. Petit Caprice
    Duration
    03:13
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  18. 18 No. 3. Intermezzo 01:40
    Track
    18
    Title
    No. 3. Intermezzo
    Duration
    01:40
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  19. 19 No. 4. Étude-Fantaisie 03:24
    Track
    19
    Title
    No. 4. Étude-Fantaisie
    Duration
    03:24
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  20. 20 No. 5. Marche-Humoresque 02:59
    Track
    20
    Title
    No. 5. Marche-Humoresque
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  21. 21 Impromptu - Caprice in E Major 05:08
    Track
    21
    Title
    Impromptu - Caprice in E Major
    Duration
    05:08
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  22. 22 No. 1. Jadwinia-Polka 02:35
    Track
    22
    Title
    No. 1. Jadwinia-Polka
    Duration
    02:35
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  23. 23 No. 2. Novellette 05:52
    Track
    23
    Title
    No. 2. Novellette
    Duration
    05:52
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  24. 24 No. 3. Mazurka 03:19
    Track
    24
    Title
    No. 3. Mazurka
    Duration
    03:19
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  25. 25 No. 4. Polonaise 07:27
    Track
    25
    Title
    No. 4. Polonaise
    Duration
    07:27
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford
  26. 26 Thème et variations, Op. 61 16:59
    Track
    26
    Title
    Thème et variations, Op. 61
    Duration
    16:59
    Composer
    César Cui
    Performer
    Paul Rickard-Ford