New Piano Albums

Jacopo Salvatori:2023-12-05

Lekeu – Complete Piano Works

Guillaume Lekeu was born in Belgium, but moved with his family to Paris where his early talent led him to meet César Franck, who adopted Lekeu as his last pupil in music. His life ended suddenly in 1894, at the age of 24, but luckily he was a prolific composer already as a teenager. Only a few of Lekeu's piano works have been published, but some have also survived in manuscript form.
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Mirka Viitala:2023-12-03

Boulanger, Kaprálová

Mirka Viitala devotes this album to two exceptionally talented women, none of whom lived past the age of 25. Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) became the first female winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome when she was only 19. Vítezslava Kaprálová (1915-1940) is among the most important 20th-century Czech composers, with approximately 50 works to her credit; she was also one of the few female conductors of her time.
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Mark Viner:2023-12-01

Alkan – Character Pieces & Grotesqueries

Mark Viner's survey of Charles-Valentin Alkan’s complete piano works is the first of its kind and expected to run to some 18 albums in length. So far, critics have been very impressed: A wonderful artistic case for an ultra-idiosyncratic idiom..a remarkable release in every aspect (BBC Music Magazine) …he’s up for whatever outrageous technical feats Alkan demands" (Fanfare)
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See Siang Wong:2023-11-29

Beethoven Trilogy 3 – UnHEARD

The final part of See Siang Wong's exploration of Beethoven's lesser-known piano works brings together reconstructions and rarities based on fragments from the composer's sketchbooks, with the intention of illustrating Beethoven's creative power, breathing life into his unfulfilled visions. For example, the Piano Sonata op. 109 has been complemented with a number of new passages, completed from Beethoven's sketches by Jürg Wüttenbach.
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Charles Owen & Katya Apekisheva:2023-11-27

Poulenc, Debussy, Milhaud

Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva perform a selection of French 20th-century music. Milhaud and Poulenc, both members of Les Six, shared a common view that that contemporary music needed a good spring-clean, resulting in playful and highly original scores such as Milhaud’s popular Scaramouche. Debussy’s orchestral Nocturnes arranged by Ravel for two pianos conclude the release.
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Shorena Tsintsabadze:2023-11-24

Tribute to Rachmaninoff

On her recent recordings, Klavier-Romantik (2019) and Dedication (2022), Shorena Tsintsabadze has explored the piano music of Schumann, Brahms, Chopin and Liszt. Now she pays tribute to Rachmaninoff, the composer who brought the Romantic era to its last culmination in the 20th century. The Six Moments Musicaux and a selection of other solo works are followed by the 2nd Piano Concerto.
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Janne Mertanen:2023-11-21

Chopin

Janne Mertanen first captured the attention of the musical public by winning the International Chopin Competition in Darmstadt in 1992, and has recorded several prizewinning Chopin albums since then. Now, after a series of albums with music by Finnish composers (including a 5-CD Sibelius set) he returns to Chopin playing the Third Sonata, F minor Ballade, Barcarolle & Impromptus.
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Anne Queffélec:2023-11-19

Mozart – Piano Concertos 20 & 27

In her 40 or so recordings, Anne Queffélec displays a large and varied repertoire, but she is particularly well-known for her Satie and Mozart. At the festival La Roque d’Anthéron her performance of the complete Mozart sonatas was broadcasted live by France Musique. "Mozart, to whom my father devoted a passion, was part of my family. I played his works at a very young age, at a time when his music was barely taught in France."
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Geoffrey Madge:2023-11-17

A Cathedral of Sound –
The Bach Busoni Transcriptions

Geoffrey Madge has been regarded as an authority on Busoni since 1988, when Philips issued his anthology of the composer’s solo piano works on six CDs. Since then he has played and recorded an extensive repertoire of baroque, classical, 19 th century and contemporary works. "I feel that my study of Busoni’s piano technique has always been an influence on my performances".
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Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu:2023-11-14

Waves

Having played a lot of Chopin since winning the 2021 International Chopin Competition, Bruce Liu turns to Rameau, Ravel and Alkan, three French composers who were each active in consecutive centuries. "Going from Baroque to Late-Romantic to Impressionist… is actually a longer view of French musical history than we usually get, because the French Baroque is quite neglected by pianists."
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Matan Porat:2023-11-12

Dances for Zoe

This colourful offering of dances spans through four centuries of music and consists of Waltzes by Brahms, Porat, Bill Evans, Scriabin and Shostakovich, as well as pairs of Mazurkas (Scriabin and Adès), Minuets (Ravel and C.P.E. Bach), Tangos (Stravinsky and Nancarrow), Sarabandes (Rameau and Satie) and Forlanes (Couperin and Ravel).
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Angela Hewitt:2023-11-09

Mozart – Piano Sonatas K 310–311, 330–333

"Endless hours of joy and wonder" is how Angela Hewitt sums up playing and recording Mozart's complete piano sonatas. This second release includes some of the greatest hits of the cycle, such as the "Alla Turca"-Sonata K 331, and the D minor Fantasy, which has been in Hewitt's repertoire since her first full-length recital at age nine.
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Nathanaël Gouin:2023-11-07

Caprice

On this eclectic album, Nathanaël Gouin explores the genre of the caprice and the associated notions of fantasy, liberty, exuberance and lightness. Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody is followed by solo works mirroring two blocks; one of German music with Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, the other of French music with Fauré, Ohana, Alkan and Reynaldo Hahn.
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Lukas Geniušas:2023-11-03

Rachmaninoff – Sonata 1, Preludes Op. 32

“I know it goes against the grain, but I would name this sonata to be one of, if not the best Rachmaninoff’s solo piano work” says Lukas Geniušas of the First Piano Sonata, described by its author as ‘absolutely wild and indeterminately long’. Geniušas has recorded the unabridged, unpublished and unperformed version on the composer's own Steinway piano at the legendary Villa Senar on lake Lucerne in Switzerland.
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Wilhem Latchoumia:2023-11-01

Do Brasil – works by Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos founded his style on the melodic and rhythmic traditions of Brazil and enriched it with all the innovations he found among contemporaries such as Debussy and Stravinsky. The final work in this recital is the monumental Rudepoêma, inspired by the great Arthur Rubinstein and at the same time an ode to nature – "Rite of Spring meets the Brazilian jungle" as some have described it.
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Marina Staneva:2023-10-30

Mompou – Piano Works

Marina Staneva discovered Mompou only a few years ago through her teacher Alisdair Hogarth. "I dived into a whole new world of mystery and wonder... Paisajes take you to different scenes in Spain, the Chopin Variations are the perfect marriage between jazz and classical, and Cançons i danses have it all – Catalan folk tunes and rhythms, jazz influence, and the classic dance in ternary time signature."
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Claire Huangci:2023-10-27

Schubert – Late Sonatas and Pieces

For her 10th anniversary with Berlin Classics, Claire Huangci presents a weighty Schubert project – the late sonatas, Three Piano Pieces D 946 and a selection of songs from Schwanengesang. This music is what "I would like to take with me to a desert island. ... Schubert has accompanied me through all times", especially the late sonatas, which are at the centre of this triple album.
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Alexandre Tharaud:2023-10-25

Ravel – Piano Concertos,
Falla – Nights in the Gardens of Spain

“Ravel’s Concerto in G major is fresh and Mozartian in its colours, while his Concerto for the Left Hand is haunted by dark shades and suppressed fears” but both share "meticulous craftsmanship and jazzy touches", says Alexandre Tharaud.. De Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain began as a solo piano piece entitled Nocturne but was expanded for piano and orchestra at the request of the great pianist Ricardo Viñes.
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Víkingur Ólafsson:2023-10-24

J S Bach – Goldberg Variations

Víkingur Ólafsson has made a profound impact with his musicianship and visionary programming. Previous recordings of music by Philip Glass, J S Bach, Debussy, Rameau, Mozart and other have captured the public and critical imagination. The pianists entire 2023–24 season is dedicated to the Goldberg Variations which he brings on a world tour, performing the work across six continents throughout the year.
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Dmitry Masleev:2023-10-22

Tchaikovsky – The Seasons

Dmitry Masleev's very first piano score was Tchaikovsky's The Seasons. "I was just a boy then, exhilarated by every piece I discovered in it!... Looking at my baby boy, who was born at the beginning of this year, I feel that same energy of my childhood, the sincerity, curiosity, and fascination for each magical living sound... I have decided to record The Seasons to capture these sensations and to share them with my son and the rest of the world."
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Martina Frezzotti:2023-10-20

Amy Beach – Piano Music

Martina Frezzotti's debut album for Piano Classics featured music by Fanny Mendelssohn and was warmly welcomed by the international press (“Selection of the month” by BBC Music Magazine and Musica magazine). For her second album, she has turned to another woman composer that is receiving more and more attention in concert halls around the world, the American Amy Beach (1867–1944).
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Sonya Bach:2023-10-17

Mussorgsky – Piano Music

Sonya Bach has looked beyond the extremely famous Pictures at an Exhibition and composed an all-Mussorgsky album. She plays Night on Bald Mountain, Mussorgsky's Tone Poem that was revised and reorchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov and arranged for piano by Konstantin Chernov, and four of the 17 extant short works Mussorgsky wrote for piano solo.
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Matteo Bevilacqua:2023-10-14

Berio – Complete Piano Works

The piano was a constant presence throughout the life of Luciano Berio. From the charming early Petite Suite to the compelling drama of the Piano Sonata, one of his last works, Berio continued his profound explorations of this instrument’s timbres and possibilities. This recording marks the 20th anniversary of the composer's death in 2003.
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Igor Levit:2023-10-11

Fantasia – Bach, Liszt, Berg, Busoni

Igor Levit has made a specialty of tackling some of the most monumental works in the piano repertoire. The massive climax of this double album is Ferruccio Busoni’s homage to Bach, the Fantasia contrappuntistica, which Levit says “represents the final destination of the journey that I have been undertaking in terms of my repertory in recent years.” The works leading up to it are Bach’s Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, Liszt’s B minor Sonata, and the Op 1 Sonatas of Alban Berg and Samuil Feinberg.
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