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Adam Laloum / Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Kazuki Yamada BRAHMS Piano Concertos

Adam Laloum, described by Le Monde as “a great artist and poet”, is recognized as one of today’s most exciting young French pianists. For his debut recording on Sony Classical, Laloum has chosen to record the two piano concertos by Brahms. Each is a titan of any pianist’s repertoire, making this choice a special statement of Laloum’s artistic confidence and strength. In the words of Le Monde, “Adam has that je ne sais quoi which captivates the audience.”

In his new recording of the Brahms concertos, Laloum is partnered by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the baton of Kazuki Yamada. “I worked with Kazuki a few years ago with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, which was a very good experience,” Laloum says. “Therefore I was eager to ask him to do this recording with me. It was a wonderful working relationship because we were searching out the interpretation together, really sharing something. We weren’t trying to ‘fix’ the music, but to let it breathe, just giving our natural energy.”

Contrasting the two Brahms concertos, Laloum says: “I feel a sense of large landscapes in the D minor Concerto, something much colder than the B flat major work, yet also there is a special kind of light within it. The main character of the first movement is very dark, but still, in this work you find many different colours and feelings. The Second Concerto to me contains more fantasy, with an extraordinary sense of noblesse and a different type of generosity: it is warmer and more human, particularly in the third and fourth movements. Although it is an immense work, sometimes in it he talks about simple things and even about humour – always with a lot of tenderness.”

Denis Kozhukhin / Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Kazuki Yamada RAVEL - GERSHWIN Piano Concertos

Exuberant high spirits, pulsating rhythms and breathless virtuosity jostle with urbane sophistication and deeply felt sentiment in these scintillating jazz-inspired concertos by Maurice Ravel and George
Gershwin, played with élan by Denis Kozhukhin and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Kazuki Yamada in this release from PENTATONE.

A sparkling divertissement with witty orchestration and sizzling virtuosity, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major is and one of his best-loved works thanks to its impeccable style, dashing humour, and its hauntingly beautiful slow movement. In a change of mood, Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major is a darkly hued, powerful work with a heroic grandeur realised in a fearsomely difficult piano part that traverses the keyboard to dazzling effect. And Tin Pan Alley beckons with Gershwin’s breezily confident and polished Piano Concerto in F major. With an inventive score that artfully combines jazz elements, heart on sleeve melodies and brilliant pianistics, the result is irresistible

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Kazuki Yamada DE FALLA Noches en los Jardines de España - El Sombrero de Tres Picos

Manuel de Falla’s richly evocative music erupts in a riot of colour in this vibrant new recording from 

Kazuki Yamada with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Works included are the ever popular Noches en los jardines de España and El sombrero de tres picos as well as movements from La vida breve and El amor brujo.
The sultry warm atmosphere of an Andalusian night is almost palpable in Falla’s spellbinding Noches en los jardines de España. With its shimmering, sensuous harmonies, exquisite orchestral colours and exuberant melodies and rhythms, it’s perhaps Falla’s most impressionistic work. Using a large orchestral canvas on which he paints with deft, luminous strokes, Falla skilfully integrates a virtuoso piano part to create lovingly evocative music, full of captivating beauty.
Elsewhere with the sensational ballet El sombrero de tres picos, Falla conjures up music steeped in Andalusian culture which is boisterous, full-bloodied, and urgent. It’s impossible not to be swept along by the drama in this orchestral showpiece. By turns lyrical, sensuous, or dramatic, the meticulously written score is full of surprises and the work positively bristles with wit, energy and exuberant intensity. 

Yamada’s previous recordings with the OSR for PENTATONE have been widely praised – “Exquisite and passionate … grace abounds” (BBC Music Magazine), “tastefully refined” (Gramophone). For their more recent release of music by Roussel, Debussy and Poulenc, HRAudio.net noted Yamada’s “exuberant performance” and the OSR “playing …[with] tremendous vitality and enthusiasm, as if their very lives depended on it.”
The pianist Mari Kodama has established an international reputation for profound musicality and articulate virtuosity and has recorded extensively for PENTATONE. Her most recent release with her sister Momo Kodama, a sizzling account of Tchaikovsky ballets, was praised by The Guardian for its “sparkle and style” and described by Artamag as “…a very exciting recording, a ‘labour of love’ by two extraordinary pianists.”
Frequently in demand as an interpreter of Mozart’s works, the mezzo soprano Sophie Harmsen is a regular performer in large international festivals.  (Pentatone)