Review - Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor, S178 (Emmanuel Despax)
Despax’s approach to the B minor Sonata is impressive – even grandiose – creating a highly personal sound world with tremendous scale and power yet with finesse and subtlety
Reviews
Review - Olga Samaroff and Frank La Forge: ‘The Complete Recordings’
APR is to be congratulated for shining a light on these two remarkable and little-known pianists
Review - Hindemith: Mathis der Maler – Symphony. The Four Temperaments; Schnittke: Concerto for Piano and Strings (Anna Gourari)
A sparkling and perceptive performance
Review - Ives: Piano Sonata No 2, ‘Concord, Mass, 1840-1860’. The St Gaudens ‘Black March’ (Donald Berman)
This is Ives interpretation at its most perceptive
Review - Yvonne Loriod's Complete Véga Recordings
Richard Whitehouse explores the complete Véga recordings by Yvonne Loriod, reissued to mark her centenary, and finds a pianist of wide-ranging sympathies
Review - ‘Movements’ (George Li)
A fully convincing display of the still-young pianist’s musicianship, blending maturity, intelligence and sensitivity with fully fledged prowess
Review - Debussy: Images (Saskia Giorgini)
The key to this release is the intimacy, often merged with yearning, at its core
Review - Mozart & Poulenc: Double & Triple Concertos (Karin Kei Nagano, Mari Kodama, Momo Kodama)
It’s a true family affair, and the rapport is palpable in performances that revel in the joyfulness abounding in both works
Review - Albéniz: Iberia – Books 1 & 2; Granados: Goyescas, Op 11 – Book 1 (Peter Donohoe)
Whether you find the performances refreshingly uneccentric or slightly lacking in spice will depend on your taste
Review - Beethoven | Mozart | Schoenberg | Webern (Karim Said)
With pianists of the stature of Schnabel, Brendel, Richter, Gilels and most recently Cédric Tiberghien in the catalogue, this is hard to recommend
Review - ‘Concertos without Orchestra’ (Salih Can Gevrek)
He prompts your awareness in Schumann’s tortuous F minor Sonata of Clara Schumann’s fears for her husband’s genius, for a mind and imagination that soared gloriously but dangerously close to the edge
Review - ‘Reformation’ (Mishka Rushdie Momen)
Momen’s playing brims with zest, clarity and refinement
Review - G Benjamin: ‘Complete Piano Works’ (Erik Bertsch)
Having this body of work in a single collection has its own justification, and no one – not least those who have heard him play Marco Stroppa (Kairos) – could doubt Bertsch’s expertise or dedication
Review - Mozart: ‘Complete Sonatas, Vols 5 & 6’ (Orli Shaham)
‘Shaham’s concluding Rondeau defines lightness and crispness, replete with humorously timed grace notes’
Review - Grieg: Holberg Suite, Ballade & Lyric Pieces (Andrey Gugnin)
‘Andrey Gugnin is a true poet of the keyboard and his commitment shines through in every bar’
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