Various Artists - Complete Piano Music - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Album Tracks 1. I. Fantasistycke 2. II. Vid Solofjorden 3. III. Melodie 4. I. Akvarell 5. II. I Folkton 6. III. Mazurka 7. IV. Visa 8. V. Legend 9. VI. Intermezzo 10. I. Allegro Energico 11. II. Andante Espressivo 12. III. Allegro Grazioso 13. IV. Allegro Con Brio 14. Intermezzo No. 1 15. Intermezzo No. 2 16. Intermezzo No. 3 17. I. Mot Kvall 18. II. Lek 19. III. en Liten Roddtur 20. IV. I Trapetsen 21. V. Soll Over Fjarden 22. VI. I Tankar 23. Scherzo in F minor 24. Allegro Con Fuoco

Founded in 1987 the annual Rarities of Piano Music Festival in the North German town of Husum is a major event. Danacord is proud to the recording from the 32nd Festival in 2018 featuring again rare piano music played by some of the leading pianists of today. Among the highlights you will find the truly remarkable pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi and very rare piano works by Vierne and Nicode. Many of the works are first ever album recordings, and as usual all are unedited live performances. All lovers of piano music will want this , not only because of the first class pianism from truly outstanding performers, but also because the quality of the often unknown and rare mostly romantic piano music is of such invaluable substance. Critics are raving about the piano sound and the long and informative booklet.

Chopin's four Ballades are among the greatest of his works, as is the Fantasia in F minor also included on this disk. The Ballades were composed between 1835 and 1843 and are generally believed to be based upon works by the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz. This is music in the style of the medieval troubador, with singing lyrical sections alternating with music of wild passions, big chords, chromatic passages, and virtuosic runs. The first and fourth ballades, in G minor and F minor, tend to be more stormy and passionate while the second and third, in F major and A flat major are more reflective and lyrical. Biret gives a beautiful rendition of this music with beautiful, free rhythm, attention to dynamics and phrasing, and a full use of the resources of the piano. She captures magnificently the wild, virtuosic concluding passages in the first and fourth ballades. Album Tracks 1. Ballade No.1 in G, Op.23 2. Ballade No.2 in F, Op.38 3. Ballade No.3 in a Flat, Op.47 4. Ballade No.4 in F, Op.52 5. Berceuse in D Flat, Op.57 6. Nouvelle Etude No.1 in F, Op. Posth 7. Nouvelle Etude No.2 in a Flat, Op. Posth 8. Nouvelle Etude No.3 in D Flat, Op. Posth 9. Fant in F, Op.49 10. Galop Marquis in a Flat 11. Largo in E Flat, Bi 109 12. Marche Funebre 13. Cantabile in B Flat