Florian Krumpock - Piano Sonatas - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

European folk music has not one sound but many. There are countless soundscapes between Sardinia and Norway, from the Atlantic coast to the Urals, each one distinct. All have their own character. Europe means polyphony, a thicket of diversity where for millennia cultures have been flowing together and drifting apart, creating a musical patchwork. Traditional music? The term suggests constancy and permanence familiar tunes and homely songs. The melodies of the past seem to offer a stable foothold, in opposition to the ever faster innovations of the present. However this nostalgia is an illusion, a false idyll. Many of the musical styles we now perceive as traditional were originally radical and modern. They resulted from dramatic changes which shook the 19th century European world and turned it upside down. The industrial revolution triggered technical innovations and social change on a massive scale. New instruments were invented the accordion, mouth organ, concertina, banjo and saxophone, plus brass instruments equipped with valves like the trumpet and tuba. Later, factory production turned these new musical instruments into relatively cheap mass produced items which many people could afford.

Michael Finnissy - Piano Sonatas [COMPACT DISCS] date 07/22/2008

After a first recording of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations acclaimed by the critics (Diapason d'Or, BBC, Guardian, Le Monde) Filippo Gorini, a student of Alfred Brendel and winner of the first Prize and Audience Prize of the Bonn Beethoven Competition in 2015, pursues a fast-growing career. His concert appearances have drawn unanimous acclaim on many prestigious stages such as the Berlin Konzerthaus, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Munich Herkulessaal, Società del Quartetto di Milano and the Samsung Concert Hall in Seoul. Here he returns to Beethoven and tackles the perilous Sonata no.29, known as the 'Hammerklavier', which the composer himself said would pose a challenge for future generations, along with the Sonata no.32, which according to Thomas Mann represents the supreme accomplishment of and 'farewell' to sonata form.