Grand Piano

Edward Han Jiang – Piano Miniatures from China (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 44,1 kHz]

January 16, 2024 0 Comment

The ten pieces in this collection have been carefully selected as being most representative of Chinese culture, combining compositions from the 1960s and 70s with contemporary piano works and arrangements of ancient folk songs by pianist and composer Edward Han Jiang. Jiang compares the coalescence of the black and white keys of the piano to the layers and spirit in Chinese ink paintings as they portray rivers in the north and south, a bold Spring Dance from the west and the graceful Jasmine Flower from the east – all are lit by the moon, as described in music that dates back to the Tang Dynasty.

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Eleanor Hodgkinson – Rota: Complete Solo Piano Works, Vol. 1 (2020) [FLAC 24 bit, 44,1 kHz]

January 14, 2024 0 Comment

Nino Rota embraced neo-Classical, neo-Romantic and even neo-Baroque affiliations. His music prized melodic directness and communicative generosity and it is not therefore surprising that he should be best known for his epochal film scores – the music for The Godfather pre-eminently. Nino Rota’s 15 Preludes utilise melodic and harmonic explorations to chart music that is agitated and melancholic, but also joyous and comedic. The Fantasia in G comprises seven themes – folkloric, droll and ultimately heroic. A late work, the 7 Pezzi difficili per bambini is generous in its emotional directness.

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Elisaveta Blumina – Frid: Piano Works (2021) [FLAC 24 bit, 48 kHz]

January 12, 2024 0 Comment

Grigori (Grigory) Samuilovich Frid was a distinguished member of the generation of composers born in Russia just before the Revolution of 1917. Frid’s significant corpus of piano music can trace its lineage to Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Stravinsky, and his skill in conjuring entire worlds in music can be heard throughout this recording. His albums of Children’s Pieces are rich in gems that evoke poetic nostalgia, seasonal moods and witty pictorial descriptions that genuinely transcend their didactic purpose. In these world première recordings, distinguished pianist Elisaveta Blumina reveals Frid’s extraordinary character – a gifted composer, pedagogue and artist who lived his life to the full, despite many personal setbacks and difficulties.

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Eleonor Bindman, Jenny Lin – The Brandenburg Duets (arranged for piano duet by Eleonor Bindman) (2018) [FLAC 24 bit, 192 kHz]

January 9, 2024 0 Comment

Unlike the only published piano duet arrangement by Max Reger, which has serious performance limitations, Eleonor Bindman’s new transcription of the Brandenburg Concertos highlights their polyphony, imagining how Bach might have distributed the score if he had created four-part inventions for piano duet. With an equal partnership between the two instrumentalists, using the modern piano’s full potential to convey the unique scoring and character of each work, the concertos are ordered to create an engaging listening sequence.

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Dmitry Korostelyov – Piano Music from a Russian Dynasty (2021) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

December 28, 2023 0 Comment

The uniquely influential Russian musical and theatrical dynasty of the Liadov, Antipov and Pomazansky families supplied Russian culture with nearly 20 musical and theatrical performers, conductors, composers, and ballet dancers over the course of 150 years. Including numerous world première recordings, these wonderful pièces de salon are gems of Russian dance music, full of charming grace, melodic delicacy and nobility. A quote from Anatoly Liadov can stand as representative for all: “such is my character: do everything so that every bar gratifies”. This recording was made on a Steinway D piano.

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Duncan Honeybourne – A Hundred Years of British Piano Miniatures (2018) [FLAC 24 bit, 44,1 kHz]

December 26, 2023 0 Comment

The piano pieces here trace a trajectory from the Edwardian poetry of Leo Livens to the overdubbing of Peter Reynolds by way of a century of evocative, descriptive and exciting miniatures. Reflecting pastoral, light and experimental traditions, these previously unrecorded works offer rich variety from neglected composers. Duncan Honeybourne enjoys a colorful and unique career as solo pianist, chamber musician, educator and artistic director. He has appeared at many major concert halls and at leading festivals, and has been a frequent broadcaster at home and abroad. One of his generation’s leading exponents of 20th century English piano music, several celebrated contemporary composers have also dedicated major new works to him. An inspiring teacher and educator, he has devised and written several recital programmes blending words and music and has created and directed several series of piano and chamber concerts. Duncan is also sought-after nationwide as a thought-provoking and entertaining lecturer on his experience of living with autism.

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Charlene Farrugia, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Rebecca Raimondi, Stefan Jess-Kropfitsch – Fiorini: In the Midst of Things – Piano & Chamber Music (2021) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

December 22, 2023 0 Comment

Maltese composer Karl Fiorini is a European without frontiers – the compositions in this album reflect his early detachment from a Mediterranean identity towards a more varied and intense sound world. Trio Lamina features elements of Bartók’s “night music” in its complex sub-sections, whereas Fiorini’s two piano studies, which predate his move to Paris, already exude a Gallic ambience. Influenced by North African folk music, the Piano Trio expands his global reach, and the Piano Sonata, a gritty virtuoso concert piece, shifts geographical influence towards Eastern Europe to powerful effect. All of these world première recordings were recorded in the presence of the composer.

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Charlene Farrugia – Khachaturian: 7 Recitatives & Fugues & Children’s Albums Nos. 1 & 2 (2021) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

December 20, 2023 0 Comment

Aram Khachaturian was considered the “mouthpiece of the entire Soviet Orient” and remains the most renowned of 20th-century Armenian composers. His unmistakable style came with an urge to invent new forms that reconciled Western practice with Eastern idiom. His ‘apprentice’ Fugues were revised and enriched with Recitatives that conjure the colourful voices of Khachaturian’s childhood in Tbilisi. Refreshingly original, amusing and provocative, the Children’s Albums belong to a tradition that reaches back to Bach, Schumann and Tchaikovsky.

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Christopher Williams – Barmotin: Piano Music, Vol. 2 (2022) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]

December 20, 2023 0 Comment

The published works of Barmotin (1877–1939) date from a particularly rich flowering of Russian culture that preceded the Revolution of 1917. From the Romantic expansiveness of the Piano Sonata, Op. 4 to the colourful and reflective Tableaux de la vie enfantine, the attraction of Barmotin’s piano music stems from his spirited artistic personality, the refinement of his harmonic language and mastery of form. Christopher Williams continues his acclaimed rediscovery of a composer who allows the emotional character of each musical moment to flourish.

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Carl Petersson – Burgmüller: 25 Études faciles et progressives, Op. 100 & 18 Études, Op. 109 (2019) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

December 19, 2023 0 Comment

In 1832 German-born Friedrich Burgmüller settled in Paris where he became internationally admired for his salon pieces and studies. At a time when demand for new teaching material had reached unprecedented heights, he supplied a sequence of works that appealed to the amateur market by virtue of their musical interest and appropriate technical demands. Written for the burgeoning market for piano teaching material, the set of 25 Easy and Progressive Studies, Op. 100 was soon followed by the 18 Characteristic Studies, Op. 109, a continuation of the earlier set, each piece bearing a charming title. They continue to provide a basis for teaching to this day.

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Christopher Williams – Barmotin: Piano Music, Vol. 3 (2022) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]

December 18, 2023 0 Comment

A student of Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev and a contemporary of Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, Semyon Alexeyevich Barmotin (1877-1939) flourished in the years before the Russian Revolution. His was probably the first Ballade for solo piano written by a Russian composer and this large-scale work exemplifies his perfect control of expansive form, Lisztian virtuosic impulse and thematic variety. The two sets of Morceaux enshrine other essential elements of his art – folkloric influences, crystalline sonorities and true expressive depth. Christopher Williams’ third instalment in this acclaimed cycle features all world première recordings.

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Biljana Urban – Schmitt: Works for Piano (2021) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

December 8, 2023 0 Comment

Florent Schmitt was a strikingly original composer whose influences were as varied as his own restless and imaginative music. A number of his solo piano works are little known and offer an important insight into his compositional development. Neuf Pièces, Op. 27, which includes a Spanish-infused Gitanella movement, was composed during his first period of travel. The expressive and vivid elements of Crépuscules, Op. 56 are infused with harmonic richness and quiet melancholy, while Ritournelle, Op. 2 No. IIbis displays an airiness and wit characteristic of French music of the Roaring Twenties. Internationally renowned pianist, Biljana Urban, presents a selection of neglected gems of French piano literature including many world première recordings. This recording was made on a Steinway D piano.

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Anna Szałucka – A Century of Polish Piano Miniatures (2018) [FLAC 24bit, 44,1 kHz]

December 3, 2023 0 Comment

‘A Century of Polish Piano Miniatures’ takes us on a fascinating journey through a golden era in Polish music, from the great patriot Paderewski via Szymanowski, Bacewicz and Gorecki, to present day composers. This essential collection coincides with Poland’s centenary of independence in 2018 with each work representing significant moments in the country’s musical and political history. It pays tribute to the bravery of composers who stood up for freedom in art and culture during times of great political turmoil.

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Alvaro Cendoya – Ponce: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 3 (2022) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]

December 2, 2023 0 Comment

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.

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Aleyson Scopel – Almeida Prado: Complete Nocturnes & Ilhas (2022) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

December 2, 2023 0 Comment

Almeida Prado’s colossal piano cycle Cartas Celestes offers a paradigm of audacious invention but between 1985 and 1991 this prolific Brazilian composer also wrote a set of 14 Nocturnes that display the genre’s lyrical impulses. Along with abstract elements and features such as synesthesia, used in homage to his teacher Messaien, the full range of influences can be felt in Almeida Prado’s Nocturnes: Chopin, Scriabinesque colour, bossa-nova, Brahms-like intervals, serenity and radiant songfulness.

Ilhas is a mystical but programmatic work, the predecessor of Cartas Celestes in many essential elements. Aleyson Scopel is an award-winning Brazilian pianist and one of Almeida Prado’s greatest contemporary advocates.

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Aldo Orvieto – Castiglioni: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 (2022) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

December 2, 2023 0 Comment

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, this first volume of 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.

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Adam Johnson – Kuula: Complete Works for Solo Piano (2018) [FLAC 24bit, 96 kHz]

December 2, 2023 0 Comment

Finnish composer and conductor Toivo Kuula was a student of Sibelius, and pieces such as the majestic Juhlamarssi (‘Festive March’) share the great master’s national flavour while the descriptive folktales of Satukuvia create their own beautifully romantic atmosphere. Kuula’s piano music is notable for its vast array of colour and variety of style, from the melancholy Surumarssi (‘Funeral March’) (from Six Pieces, Op. 26) to the lighthearted Schottis (‘Scottish Dance’), while countless Finnish couples have been married to the accompaniment of Kuula’s Häämarssi (‘Wedding March’).