Arensky / Groslot / Blumenthal - Piano Suites 1-5 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Arensky was a fine pianist who actually made several recordings in the 1890s; his pianism is evident in his compositions for the instrument and he could easily be thought of as the Russian Chopin - brilliantly conceived works in the high Romantic tradition which deserve to be highly popular. InchMany of the 38 pieces on this fine CD acquire the status of gems. Salon music in the best sense, such writing is raised by Anthony Goldstone to a still higher level. Short in length but often sizeable in virtuoso demands, all this music is played by Goldstone with unflagging musical energy and brio. Admirably recorded and presented.Inch - Bryce Morrison (Gramophone)

Anton Stepanovich Arensky was born in Novgorod on 12 July 1861 and spent his boyhood years in a comfortable family setting conductive to the early detection and encouragement of his extraordinary musical talent. His father, a physician, was an avid cellist, and his mother was an excellent pianist. Arensky was already composing songs and piano pieces at the age of nine and began his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1879. Rimsky-Korsakov, a firm advocate of Russian School and the artistic rival of Tchaikovsky (who was ostracized as a Westernizer) was his composition teacher. Arensky passed the final conservatory examination with distinction three years later and immediately received a professorship at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his pupils were Rechmaninov and Scriabin, both much better known today than their teacher. In Moscow Arensky came under Tchaikovsky´s influence and emerged as a composer of Western stamp. His opera A Dream on the Volga, premiered with great success in Moscow in 1891, reflects this stylistic development he began the opera as a student under Rimsky-Korsakov´s tutelage and completed it as an admirer of Tchaikovsky. While carrying out his teaching duties, Arensky also led Russian choral society and conducted symphony concerts. He succeeded Balakirev as director of the court chour St. Petersburg in 1894 and left this position in 1901 to work as a freelance composer, conductor, and pianist in Russia and abroad. Although Arensly met with artistic success, his passion for drink and gaming, already in evidence during his youth, gradually took control of his life and led to his ruination. Arensky succumbed to tuberculosis at the relatively young age of forty-five in 25 February 1906.

When this piano trio came to life in 2009, they were greeted with great enthusiasm from audiences that found themselves bowled over by the intense musicality of this exciting new ensemble. Their first CD, of Mendelssohn piano trios, was launched in February 2012 to the highest critical acclaim. Their second recording, of French repertoire, was released in June 2013 and, like it's predecessor, has been receiving rave reviews internationally.