Winterberg / Helbig - Piano Music 1 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Lang / Beiser / Valk - Day [COMPACT DISCS] date 01/26/2018

For their debut album on Resonus Classics, The Gould Piano Trio presents three Trios with strong American ties. Charles Ives' (1874-1954) only Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano is one of his major works is without question. Amy Beach (1867-1944) was recognized in her lifetime as one of the most acclaimed American composers. Her Trio, Op. 150, was composed in 1938 and is steeped in the developmental processes of late nineteenth century models while quoting two Inuit folk songs. Although born and educated in England, Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) wrote her Piano Trio as part of a chamber music competition in Pittsfield MA and has been described as the finest work in the genre by any British composer.

The American composer George Antheil (1900-59) enjoyed the sobriquet 'the Bad Boy of Music' thanks to the mechanistic scores of his early career. This anthology of piano music from the last twenty years of his life reveals a muse that could also be affectionate, flirtatious and capricious - but the 'Bad Boy' occasionally re-emerged, as in the diabolical mischief of the wild, peppery, Prokofievan toccatas also recorded here. Ms. Judy Pang is increasingly on demand as an inventive solo and chamber musician with eclectic repertoire. She has established herself as a performer of works both mainstream and contemporary. Alongside her dedication to a wide-ranging selection from the canon of piano repertoire, she has continued her scholarly study of French impressionist music, on which she has given lecture recitals both in New York and Shanghai. Her numerous performances have taken her as far afield as the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, Australia and China.