Florence Price’s music was mostly ignored when she composed it. Now, however, the works of this African-American artist are being reevaluated. And performed. And recorded. But it almost didn’t happen at all. Many of Price’s manuscripts were considered lost after her sudden death in 1953. In 2009, her abandoned summer home was under renovation. The […]
Classical piano
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Selim Palmgren Complete Piano Works Volume 5 focuses on exoticism
Volume five of Grand Piano’s Palmgren focuses on the exotic. As with the other volumes, there are several world premiere recordings. That’s not surprising. Only a fraction of Palmgren’s roughly 400 works has ever been recorded. What continues to surprise me is the quality and variety of Palmgren’s compositions. He was an excellent pianist. That […]
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Schubert Sonatas come together for Anne-Marie McDermott
Sometimes it all comes together — the music, the artist, the venue, the recording. That’s what happens with this release. It features two of Schubert’s most popular and challenging piano sonatas: The Piano Sonata in D major, D.850, and the Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D.960. Both of Schubert’s sonatas are loose in form. At […]
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Jouni Somero presents Palmgren’s “American” music in Vol. 4
Selim Palmgren studied with Ferruccio Busoni. So it’s not surprising that he had incredible pianistic chops. Palmgren’s keyboard skills let his musical imagination roam unfettered — especially in his piano music. This volume of Grand Piano’s series features works written during Palmgren’s time in America. Palmgren emigrated to the United States in 1921. He joined […]
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Jouni Somero surveys Selim Palmgren piano repertoire
This volume in Grand Piano’s series spans fifty years of Selim Palmgren compositions. They show the development of the composer over time. The album opens with Three Piano Pieces, Op. 4, written in 1893. Palmgren was 15. These are charming, unprepossessing pieces with traces of Brahms and Schumann. Palmgren wrote his Lyrical Intermezzo, Op. 8 […]
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Jouni Somero presents Selim Palmgren miniatures
This volume of Selim Palmgren’s piano music shows the Finnish composer’s skill as a miniaturist. The works span almost three decades, and none of them longer than four minutes in length (many under a minute). Palmgren studied piano with Ferruccio Busoni and had phenomenal technique. That knowledge of the instrument is apparent in these works. […]
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Ian Hobson launches new Moritz Moszkowski series
And so Toccata Classics launches yet another series I’ll be following closely. Moritz Moszkowski was a household name at the turn of the 20th Century. Both as a pianist and a composer of piano music he was in demand. By 1910, ill-health had ended his concert career and he — and his music — was […]
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Friedrich Gernsheim Piano Music Volume 2 delivers
Jens Barnieck continues his survey of Friedrich Gernsheim’s piano music. This volume includes Gernsheim’s first piano sonata and several smaller works — all receive their world recording premieres with this release. Barnieck’s performances are just as satisfying as they were with volume one of this series. Gernsheim began composing around the time of Mendelssohn and […]
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Jan Ladislav Dussek Sonatinas for amateurs and professionals
The liner notes for this release carefully point out that Dussek “wrote extensively for the Middle Class.” In this case, 12 Progressive Lessons and Six Sonatinas, Op. 20 — both written for amateur musicians. And while they’re not masterworks, they’re certainly well-crafted. And I found myself enjoying them in different ways. The 12 Progressive Studies […]