Saint-Saëns: Six études pour piano, Op 52 (Bärenreiter)
Bärenreiter has done Saint-Säens proud with this release
Reviews
‘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
Live Review: Le Piano Symphonique (Lucerne)
In a very lively acoustic the Steinway piano was too brittle for this music but Fray coaxed it into subtlety between the moments of frenzy
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No 29, ‘Hammerklavier’, Op 106. Chopin: Piano Sonata No 2, Op 35 (Beatrice Rana)
These two performances are definitely worth hearing though they won’t be to all tastes
Poulenc: Piano Music (Chiara Cipelli)
Cipelli understands the disarming simplicity typifying each piece in the Villageoises suite
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas – No 7, Op 10 No 3; No 8, ‘Pathétique’, Op 13; No 12, ‘Marche funèbre’, Op 26. Rondo, Op 51 No 1 (Gianluca Cascioli)
He’s the Peter Sellers of pianists: untameable original if you get on his wavelength, merely wilful if you don’t
Hamelin: Barcarolle. Chaconne. Meditation on Laura. My Feelings About Chocolate, etc (Marc-André Hamelin)
A pianist-composer in the grand tradition of past greats, Hamelin channels his thoughts through largely episodic or variation structures
‘Over Time’ (Konstantin Emelyanov)
It is when you come to Rachmaninov that Emelyanov’s stature and quality become fully apparent
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas (Tamami Honma)
As a cycle this is rather good, and one I will return to often
Yang (Jack) Gao at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, New York | Live Review
It’s easy to hear why Gao wowed the Naumburg jury. The 20-year-old pianist never misses a note
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