Rarities of Piano Music, Husum 2013, vol. 25

Review: Gramophone Review: BBCmusic Review: Pianist Edvard Grieg 1. Dance from Jølster, Op. 17 No. 5 (1870) Geirr Tveitt 2. Arvesylv (Family Silver) Christian Sinding 3. Impromptu, Op. 31 No. 4 (1896) Jean Sibelius Sonata in F major, Op. 12 (1893) 4. Allegro molto 5. Andantino 6. Vivacissimo Belshazzar’s Feast, Op. 51 (1907) 7. Oriental March 8. Solitude 9. Night Music 10. Khadra’s Dance Frédéric Chopin 11. Mazurka in A minor, Op. posth. (1846/47) Aleksander Michalowski 12. Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op. 17 Ignaz Friedman 13. Passacaglia, Op. 44 (1911) Leo Ornstein Sonata No. 4 (1924) 14. Moderato con moto 15. Semplice 16. Lento 17. Vivo Erich Wolfgang Korngold Fairy Tale Pictures Op. 3 (1910) 18. No. 2. The Princess and the Pea 19. No. 7. The Fairy Tale’s Epilogue Husum CD 2013 © The Husum festival of piano rarities thrives on its variety of music, but that feature can make the annual CD something of a random selection. The live conditions can sometimes make it hard to include complete works with several movements. Fortunately this recording has two sonatas in full, as well as an distinct emphasis on Scandinavian music. Artur Pizarro brought a new feature to his recital which intrigued the critics: instead of employing a page-turner, he had put all his scores on to an iPad. Whether that becomes common practice will depend on how far pianists can trust the lifetime of batteries. We hear two pieces from the seven Märchenbilder by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, one of the most remarkable musical prodigies of all time. He wrote his first piano sonata when he was only eleven, and his official Opus 1, a piano trio, was first performed two years later. A second piano sonata, Op.2, followed: it was dedicated to his teacher Zemlinksy and first performed by Artur Schnabel. The first six pieces in the suite portray well-known fairy-tales. No.2 is concerned with the Princess and the Pea, the legend about a true princess who can detect a pea under several mattresses. From the start we hear the sophisticated style of the young composer, with whole-tone scales and advanced harmonies. The final piece is a tender Epilogue, again using highly chromatic chords based on whole tones. It settles later into a more restful E major section (1:06), before the harmonic style of the opening section returns, and a peaceful close. RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 2014 CATALOGUE NUMBER: DACOCD 739 EAN: 5709499739006 Download BOOKLET (PDF) Related