Figare 24

The Italian pianist Giorgia Tomassi received first piano lessons from her mother. This was to be the start of a long-lasting, deep involvement with music that would lead to her maturation as an artist at the Accademia Pianistica di Imola under the guidance of the Maestro Franco Scala. She won 1st Prize at European Music for Youth Prize Frankfurt (February 1987). Her passionate yet poetically lyrical nature must have proved equally fascinating to the public and jury of the “Arthur Rubinstein” competition held in Tel Aviv in 1992 where she won 1st Prize with a unanimous vote.

Alba Ventura is heir to the great legacy of the Spanish Piano School represented by the tradition of the Marshall Academy, founded by Enrique Granados in 1901. This interpretive style, preserved by Granados ' disciple, Franziska Marshall, has been transmitted to Ventura by Carlota Garriga and Alicia De Larrocha. This pianism, completed with a Russian tradition training with teachers and mentors such as Dimitri Bashmagyrov, Vladimir Ashmagenazy and, especially, Irina Zaritsmagaya, endows Ventura with great solidity and artistic versatility.

The GENUIN debut album of Moscow-born and Hamburg-based pianist Elizaveta Don brings together "Préludes" by three great composers: Claude Debussy, Dmitri Shostakovich, and the lesser-known yet equally significant works by Frank Martin. Elizaveta Don's words about the "Préludes" of the great Swiss composer also apply to the tiny treasures of the other two composers: they are "a journey through uncertainty and hope, reality and surrealism, irony and tragedies." What a stroke of luck for us: We get to embark on nearly forty of these journeys, guided by Elizaveta Don, ensuring the highest musical experience possible!

The compositions on this CD mark the final forays of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco into expansive works crafted for concert guitarists, bound together by a cohesive concept and a consistent unity of inspiration. Most importantly, they stand as the ultimate pieces for solo guitar that the Italian composer managed to fully complete. “Appunti” op. 210, his final composition for solo guitar, commissioned by Ruggero Chiesa, remain unfinished, albeit of notable merit: Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s death precluded their completion, with just the initial two notebooks fulfilled. Moreover, these notebooks were expressly designed for a student audience, since they are characterised by their approachability and mechanical simplicity.

London-based composer Matt Dibble tragically passed away in 2021 shortly after completing his 24 Preludes and Fugues for solo piano. His death, attributed to complications from the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination, left a void in the classical, jazz, and pop music scenes where he was beloved and respected. Dibble’s compositions showcased his remarkable versatility, blending neo-Baroque, jazz, pop, and modernist influences into a deeply personal collection crafted over six years.

Following his critically acclaimed recording of Ludwig van Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas and Diabelli Variations, made between 1992 and 1996, the pianist and conductor Alfredo Perl is now scaling this summit of classical-romantic piano music for the second time.

London-based composer Matt Dibble tragically passed away in 2021 shortly after completing his 24 Preludes and Fugues for solo piano. His death, attributed to complications from the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination, left a void in the classical, jazz, and pop music scenes where he was beloved and respected. Dibble’s compositions showcased his remarkable versatility, blending neo-Baroque, jazz, pop, and modernist influences into a deeply personal collection crafted over six years.

The compositions on this CD mark the final forays of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco into expansive works crafted for concert guitarists, bound together by a cohesive concept and a consistent unity of inspiration. Most importantly, they stand as the ultimate pieces for solo guitar that the Italian composer managed to fully complete. “Appunti” op. 210, his final composition for solo guitar, commissioned by Ruggero Chiesa, remain unfinished, albeit of notable merit: Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s death precluded their completion, with just the initial two notebooks fulfilled. Moreover, these notebooks were expressly designed for a student audience, since they are characterised by their approachability and mechanical simplicity.

Blind from the age of two, a prodigiously gifted student, Jean Langlais (1907-91) produced an immense quantity of music. His organ works alone exceed in number those of of JS Bach. Many have hardly ever been performed. Perhaps not more than half a dozen works are regularly played or recorded today, which is what makes this new complete survey of his organ music – the first ever attempted on record – both unique and invaluable, as the authoritative document of a high point in the distinguished lineage of the French organ heritage.

The GENUIN debut album of Moscow-born and Hamburg-based pianist Elizaveta Don brings together "Préludes" by three great composers: Claude Debussy, Dmitri Shostakovich, and the lesser-known yet equally significant works by Frank Martin. Elizaveta Don's words about the "Préludes" of the great Swiss composer also apply to the tiny treasures of the other two composers: they are "a journey through uncertainty and hope, reality and surrealism, irony and tragedies." What a stroke of luck for us: We get to embark on nearly forty of these journeys, guided by Elizaveta Don, ensuring the highest musical experience possible!