Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas (Tamami Honma)
As a cycle this is rather good, and one I will return to often
Reviews
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
‘The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol 86’ (Howard Shelley)
All three works are tailor-made for the pianism of Howard Shelley, his all-round alertness abetted by responsive playing from the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No 2, Op 22. Le carnaval des animaux (Lang Lang, Gina Alice)
At its best this collection is sufficiently infectious that it’s worth looking past the flaws
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas – No 4, Op 29; No 8, Op 84 (Nikita Mndoyants)
Mndoyants sits comfortably in a Russian/Soviet tradition not short of fantastical arrangers – from Rachmaninov to Pletnev and Volodos
Finnis: Youth. Lullaby for Emmeline (Clare Hammond)
A collection that warrants further instalments in due course
Rachmaninov: Études-tableaux, Op 39 (Yoav Levanon)
There have been some tremendous versions of the Études-tableaux in the past few decades but I would place Levanon’s recording near to the top
Mendelssohn: Songs without Words – selection. Alkan: La chanson de la folle au bord de la mer (Igor Levit)
Levit brings rare nobility and intensity to 14 of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words, his individualised selection spanning a period from 1829 to 1844
Critics Choice: Jan/Feb | The best new piano recordings
Featuring outstanding new releases from Behzod Abduraimov, Mark Viner, Peter Donohoe and Katya Apekisheva & Charles Owen
Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No 1, Op 28; four Preludes from Op 32 (Lukas Geniušas)
This new recording presents the sonata in its original form before Rachmaninoff imposed cuts prior to the premiere
Album of the Month: Debussy Études; Pour le piano
'A triumph that could hardly be more formidably caught than by Steven Osborne'
Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV988 (Víkingur Ólafsson)
A cultured, elevated release, not to be missed
Liszt: ‘Consolations’ (Saskia Giorgini)
Liszt-playing of this order of poetic richness and immediacy is rare indeed and Giorgini’s recording should be in the possession of those who call Liszt’s stature into doubt
Rachmaninov: Four Piano Concertos; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op 43 (Yuja Wang)
If there is any pianist who can command the necessary delicacy, power and underlying emotional fervour it is Yuja Wang, united to perfection with Gustavo Dudamel
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