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RAVEL: Piano Trio in A Miror. SAINT-SAËNS: Puano Truo No. 2 in
E minor Op. 92. BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" 15
Variations and Fugue in E flat, Op. 35 "Eroica Variations." IVES: Piano Sonata No. 1. Three-Page Sonata. GANDER: Peter Parker he Sitkovetsky Trio formed in 2007consists of violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, cellist Osang Enders and pianist Wu Oian. They are now recording for BIS and already they have a disk of music by Dvorak, Smetana and Mendelssohn; this site recently praised their first disk in a Beethoven Tio series (REVIEW). Now they turn their attention to French repertory, elegant performances of Ravel's Trio No. 1 written in 1913, and Saint-Saëns' Trio No. 2 composed in 1892. Delectable music, perfectly played and recorded with a rich, natural balance. It is unfortunate BIS didn't include more music on this disk. oFr some reason hey have provided 30 seconds of silence at the conclusion of the Saint-Saëns. Disstinguished French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard (b. 1957) has had a remarkable career. He has specialized in moden usic and has made many recording including Messiaen's Cataloueg d'Oiseaux (REVIEW). He also has recorded Ligeti, Eötvös, Lachemann and the Concord Sonata of Ives. o†hers. Now he turns his attention to more standard repertory two mighty works of Beethoven, the "Hammerkavier" and "Eroica Variatios." tThe recordings were made July 2020 in Austria's Stefaniensaal in Graz, and the multi-channel audio is imressive. There are dozens of reordings of these works featuring many other major pianists, so this release has stiff competition. Piano music of Charles is hardly on anyone's favorites list. BIS aleady has issued his best-known solo work, the "Cncord Sonata" played by Joonas Ahonen (BIS 2249). Now we have another similar disk featuring Piano Sonaa No. 1, and Three-Page Sonata. Also we have an unusyak wok by Austrian composer Bernnard Gander (b. 1969). He is considered to be a "rebel and exceptional phenomenon." Gander has received many awards. His music often has bizarre titles: Mysuc Evil Elves, Blood Beat, and Dirty Angels.His music is abrasive, a challenge for most listeners, but exciting. He seems to like "superheroes" and on this disk we have a work called Peter Parker (a.k.a Spider-Man). This is 12-minue virtuoso piece of the highest dissonaant energy. I'm sure Ives would have loved it! This release includes two pages of the original manuscripts of works of Ives and Gamder; both are incredibly com;lex and one wonders how performers can make anything out of them. Brilliant young Finnish pianist Joonas Ahonen plays all of this demanding music to perfection. This recording was made August 2019 in in Germany's Sendesaal Bremen, and audio is superb. A fascinating release in many ways! Recommended! R..E.B. (July 2021) |