Eleonor Bindman J.S. BACH Cello Suites for Solo Piano

CELLO SUITES FOR SOLO PIANO

 

Hiroko Ishimoto PIONEERS

PIONEERS

 

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds - 6

GLASSWORLDS - 6

 

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds - 5

GLASSWORLDS - 5

 

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds - 4

GLASSWORLDS - 4

 

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds - 3

GLASSWORLDS - 3

 

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds - 2

GLASSWORLDS - 2

 

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds - 1

 GLASSWORLDS - 1

Nicolas Horvath THE UNKNOWN DEBUSSY

                                                         THE UNKNOWN DEBUSSY

Anna Szałucka A CENTURY OF POLISH PIANO MINIATURES

“‘A century of Polish Piano Miniatures' summarizes years of work and research just as Poland comes to its 100th anniversary of independence. My goal was to explore and present to the audience the real jewels of Polish piano literature from the post-Chopin era. Every piece covers a historically significant moment taking the listener on a fascinating journey through wars, conflicts and victories. Leaving Poland myself over five years ago it was very important for me to see how the new generation of composers take over both inside and (mostly) outside the country. It was also crucial for me to include works written by female composers. I am pleased to share this music with a wider international audience.” (Anna Szałucka)

Leila Schayegh / Jan Schultsz JOHANNES BRAHMS Violin Sonatas

The Violin Sonatas of Johannes Brahms were the product of much self-critical reflection, and the three surviving works are from a composer mature in years. Composed around the same time as the Violin Concerto (No 1), the C minor Piano Trio and the Second Cello Sonata (Nos 2 and 3), they also echo some of his songs, such as those written to poems by Klaus Groth.

Into this Romantic atmosphere come new performances of the three works on Glossa, played by violinist Leila Schayegh (particularly fêted for her recordings of Bach, Caldara and Benda), teaming up here with pianist Jan Schultsz. Schayegh plays a copy of a period violin, whilst Schultsz uses an original 1879 Streicher instrument.

The two players aim to recapture the performing tradition as the composer would have known it, and within which he would have intended his pieces to have been played. Schayegh and Schultsz worked with Clive Brown and Neal Peres Da Costa in their efforts to aim for “the spirit rather than the dead letter of the score” and they pay admirable notice of important interpretative questions for music of this time – and they provide an intuitive musical and emotional response to the lyricism of the first two sonatas and the darker-hued tones of the third, investing these late-nineteenth-century works. (Glossa)

Josu De Solaun ENESCU Complete Works For Solo Piano

As a First Prize winner of the XIII George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest, the Spanish pianist JOSU DE SOLAUN has been invited to perform in distinguished concert series throughout the world, having made notable appearances in Bucharest (Romanian Athenaeum), Venice (Teatro La Fenice), St Petersburg (Mariinsky Theatre), Washington, DC (Kennedy Center), New York (Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera), Princeton (Taplin Hall), London (Southbank Centre), Paris (Salle Cortot), Leipzig (Schumann Haus), Taipei (Novel Hall), Mexico City (Sala Silvestre Revueltas), Prague (Nostitz Palace), and Rome (Academia de España). He is the only pianist from Spain to win the Enescu and Iturbi competitions in their respective histories, and was invited to a private reception with the King and Queen of Spain at the Royal Palace after winning the coveted Bucharest prize. Josu De Solaun is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music.

Giorgio Koukl / Virginia Rossetti LUTOSŁAWSKI Complete Piano Music

Witold Lutosławski’s few surviving apprentice works are suffused with the elegance of Ravel and the lush effusiveness of Szymanowski, and this is particularly true of the early Piano Sonata, heard here in Giorgio Koukl’s new and corrected edition based on the original manuscript. Further premières include the wistful A Kiss of Roxanne and the technically complex Invention. Including all of the folk-music tinted pedagogical miniatures, works for piano four hands and other occasional pieces, this is the most comprehensive edition of Lutosławski’s works for solo piano ever recorded.

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds 5 - Enlightenment

The works in this programme demonstrate Philip Glass’ perpetual goal of connecting with his audience. Taking shape as something like a hidden sonata form, Mad Rush contrasts peaceful atmosphere with tempestuousness and mesmerising beauty. The last of its kind in Glass’ oeuvre, 600 Lines, here receiving its première recording on solo piano, is an obsessive and hypnotically restless toccata that represents the zenith of his experiences while working with Ravi Shankar. These two monumental works are joined by première recordings of the subtly transformed Metamorphosis Two, and Glass’ transcription of Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence.

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds 4 - On Love

This volume focuses on love, one of Philip Glass’ most glorious themes. The timeless melancholy of his BAFTA award-winning music for The Hours forms an organic suite driven by the film’s three powerful characters, here complete with three unpublished movements. The breathtakingly energetic Modern Love Waltz expands the limits of minimalism by combining Glass’s style with Viennese dance tradition, while his transcription of Notes on a Scandal is a recording première. Steve Reich described the iconic Music in Fifths as being “like a freight train”.

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds 3 - Metamorphosis

This programme reverses time, revealing the metamorphosis in Glass’ work from his 1980s film and theatre transcriptions, through The Olympian composed for the Los Angeles Olympiad, to rarities such as the dream-like Coda. The Trilogy Sonata highlights Glass’ renowned operas from the celebratory Akhnaten Dance to the stately Satyagraha and landmark Einstein on the Beach. The dazzling pulse-patterns of Two Pages make it a milestone of minimalism, while the Sonatina No. 2 is a pre-minimalist work composed under the influence of Darius Milhaud.

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds 2 - Complete Etudes Nos. 1 - 20

Composed between 1991 and 2012, the 20 sweepingly diverse and intricately melodic Etudes are among Philip Glass’ most beautiful and inventive works. Exploring a variety of textures, tempi and techniques, they provide an unintended but compelling self-portrait of the composer. “Piano solo concerts are among my favorite experiences,” says Glass, “the most essential basic dialogue… Whatever happens is happening directly between me and the audience … This is the first body of work where I’m really welcoming the world of pianists into my world.”

Nicolas Horvath PHILIP GLASS Glassworlds 1 - Piano Works and Transcriptions

Philip Glass has made an immense and stylistically wide-ranging contribution to piano repertoire. The Orphée Suite, a transcription of excerpts from the first opera in Glass’ Cocteau Trilogy, is one of his most distinctive piano pieces, blending virtuosity and melodic richness. In contrast, the hypnotic How Now is structurally influenced by Indian ragas and gamelan music, whilst Dreaming Awake contains one of the most powerful climaxes in all Glass’ works. Performed by Nicolas Horvath, a Scriabin Competition first prizewinner, this is the first release in the complete Glass solo piano edition which will include many premières.