Severnside Composers Alliance - Inaugural Piano Recital

Advantages: Dreamy, peaceful, emotional music; range of abilities catered for
Disadvantages: None!

...From a piano player's point of view, Debussy is a true master of the composing craft. His pieces wash over you as you play, enfolding you in the various emotions - joy, sadness, surprise, peace - which are so deeply engrained in the music. There are pieces to suit all abilities, from the (for the most part) fairly easy Rêverie to some of the fiendishly difficult Préludes, for which the scores look like nothing you've seen on earth; and whilst the pieces on occasion may sound discordant and even simply bad at first, stick with them as every time you will in the end be richly rewarded. Playing a Debussy piece isn't about learning notes and precise regimented time signatures, as with Bach for example. It's about letting your emotions flow out into the piano, about letting yourself go completely, just for a few moments. Start... Read review

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Advantages: Cherkassky playing at his best in wide range of solo works
Disadvantages: No Godowsky included

...This is one of the best recordings of the great Romantic Virtuoso pianist, Shura Cherkassky. It showcases him at his best in a recital covering a wide range of repertoire. He is known for being wayward in some of his performances, but there is very little of that in this recital. His performances vary considerably, depending on his moods, the audience and other external factors. He was in top form at this 1982 recital and was very happy with his performance afterwards. He starts the recital with Suite de Pieces by Lully, one of the most well-known early French Baroque composers. Lully was one of the first conductors, hitting the ground with a stick. Unfortunately he died after he hit his toe by accident with the stick. This music was obviously written for the harpsichord (or one of its close relatives) and is not often... Read review

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Advantages: Little known music played extremely well
Disadvantages: Music has harsh dissonances and is not easy to understand

...This is another outstanding performance by Marc-Andre Hamelin, once again championing the piano works of a little known composer. Hamelin plays with imagination and variety, bringing to life this very difficult to understand music. The style of the music is post-Scriabin. Just as Scriabin took his starting point from Chopin, so Roslavets takes his starting point from late Scriabin, developing it in his own way. For those not familiar with the music of Scriabin, he was a late nineteenth century, early twentieth century composer, mainly of piano music and orchestral music. Scriabin's early music is based on the music of Chopin, and similar to Rachmaninoff's. His later music is more mystical, associated with his mystical religious ideas. He is famous for his "Poem of Ecstasy", a work he wrote as he moved into his late period... Read review

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