Bartók: Bagatelles. Janáček: On an Overgrown Path, Book 2. Szymanowski: Mazurkas, Op 50 (Piotr Anderszewski)
This is an extraordinary album; hardly for those of a nervous disposition or for late-night listening
Reviews
Wagner: Famous Opera Scenes (Nikolai Lugansky)
Lugansky takes us on an eternal journey, metamorphosing his Steinway into a larger-than-life orchestra intricate in texture, colour and associative imagery
‘Diaries’ – Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op 15. Arabeske, Op 18. Davidsbündlertänze, Op 6 (Tiffany Poon)
Davidsbündlertänze, the highlight of the album, receives one of the finest interpretations I know
Grieg: Piano Concerto, Op 16. Schumann: Piano Concerto, Op 54 (Elisabeth Leonskaja)
Leonskaja seems to hold the Grieg Concerto – which, despite many similarities to the Schumann, postdates it by 23 years – at something of an arm’s length
‘La Danse’ (Martin James Bartlett)
One of the most playful sprints through Ravel’s La valse I’ve heard
Mozart: Piano Concertos – No 18, K456; No 21, K467 (Jonathan Fournel)
Fournel’s assured pianism belies the fact that this release marks his recorded concerto debut
‘Berlin 1923’ – Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 1, Op 15. Schulhoff: Piano Concerto No 2, Op 43 (Herbert Schuch)
The finale is a total success, with good dynamic variety and a marvellously rowdy delivery of the central subordinate theme
Field: 18 Nocturnes (Tyler Hay)
Tyler Hay’s performance draws as much attention to Field’s similarity with Dussek, Hummel, late Clementi and even Beethoven as to his influence on Chopin
Saint-Saëns: Six études pour piano, Op 52 (Bärenreiter)
Bärenreiter has done Saint-Säens proud with this release
‘Natural Connection – Piano Music Inspired by the Natural World’ (Leon McCawley)
Obviously there’s room in the market for compilations like this, but Leon McCawley’s artistry surely deserves a better vehicle
N Boulanger: Fantaisie variée. Fauré: Après un rêve, etc. Hahn Piano Concerto (William Youn)
I doubt if Youn’s more neutral performance will win new friends for music dismissed as difficult and obscure
Brahms: Piano Concerto No 2, Op 83. Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy, D760 (Elly Ney)
Ney is a classic case of the divided self, the frequent division of an artist’s outer and inner nature
Brown: Baroquery, Op 105. 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op 99 (Nathan Williamson)
Taken as a whole, this is a remarkably assured set, one that in whole or in part deserves the widest currency
‘Schubert + Brahms’ – Schubert: Impromptus, D935. Drei Klavierstücke, D946. Brahms: Klavierstücke, Op 119 (Can Çakmur)
It would be difficult to imagine a less evasive Schubertian, or one who turns such an ironic eye on the amicable and domestic world of the ‘Schubertiads’
The New Busoni: Exercises and Studies for the Piano, Volumes 1 and 2 (Edition Breitkopf)
There is a wonderful holistic unity, an organic authenticity about the way the exercises are presented
Follow us
International Piano Print
- New print issues
- New online articles
- Unlimited website access
From £26 per year
Subscribe
International Piano Club
- New print issues
- New digital issues
- New online articles
- Digital magazine archive
- Unlimited website access
From £32 per year
Subscribe
International Piano Digital
- New digital issues
- New online articles
- Digital magazine archive
- Unlimited website access
From £26 per year
Subscribe
If you are an existing subscriber to Gramophone, Opera Now or Choir & Organ and would like to upgrade, please contact us here or call +44 (0)1722 716997.