Gottschalk Piano Music Vol 3 (martin)

Franz Xaver Scharwenka - Piano Music Vol.3 - Seta Tanyel (2002) {Hyperion-Helios CDH55133 rec 1992}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 202 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 148 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1992, 2002 Collins Classics / Hyperion Records / Helios | CDH55133
Classical / Romantic / Early 20th Century / Piano

'Tanyel's clear enthusiasm for this unhackneyed programme is utterly refreshing … The performance reminds us again just how well she understands the piano's Romantic repertoire' (Classic CD). 'the music here could hardly be more sympathetically presented than by Tanyel, whose performances are immaculate in their musicianship and virtuosity' (Gramophone). Seta Tanyel, the Armenian pianist, demonstrates a flair for the virtuosic style of German-Polish Scharwenka. She projects a well-rounded tone, a flexible sense of rhythm, a seamless technique, a fertile imagination and a daring panache. She seems to genuinly love these beautiful, light-hearted compositions. Scharwenka's music (who lived in the States for seven years) possesses energy, harmonic interest, strong rhythm, many beautiful melodies and much Polish national character. A highly enjoyable recording.

Jean Sibelius - Piano Music Vol. 3 - Håvard Gimse (2001) {Naxos 8.554814}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 170 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 142 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2001 Naxos / HNH International | 8.554814
Classical / Late Romantic / Early Modern / Piano

The Ten Pieces of Op. 58 date from 1909, the year of the String Quartet (Voces intimae). They are delightful and by no means just trivial. Each has its own sobriquet and shows real keyboard character. The final rather solemn Summer Song is memorable, as is the wistful mood of the first of the Two Rondinos, written two years later; the second sparkles most pianistically. The three Sonatinas, written together in the summer of 1912, are also full of charming ideas, giving the impressions of a composer relaxing in holiday mood. Håvard Gimse plays all this music freshly, and this Naxos disc more than bears out the promise of its companions.

Franz Xaver Scharwenka - Piano Music Vol.2 - Seta Tanyel (2002) {Hyperion-Helios CDH55132 rec 1992}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 202 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 153 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1992, 2002 Collins Classics / Hyperion Records / Helios | CDH55132
Classical / Romantic / Early 20th Century / Piano

'Scharwenka could not have been better served. He deserves no less' (International Record Review). 'The recorded sound has all the freshness needed for this music' (Pianist). Many young pianists of my generation cut their teeth on one or another of Xaver Scharwenka's Polish Dances; he composed about thirty of them. The Op. 3, No. 1 was immensely popular, selling millions of copies and that's the one I learned to play when I was about ten or so. On this release are the two Polish Dances, Op. 29, and they are mazurkas in all but name. They are lively and set your toe tapping as played by Seta Tanyel.

Jean Sibelius - Piano Music Vol. 2 - Håvard Gimse (2000) {Naxos 8.554808}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 187 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 149 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2000 Naxos / HNH International | 8.554808
Classical / Late Romantic / Early Modern / Piano

The Norwegian pianist Håvard Gimse here includes two important sets of the piano pieces, Opp. 34 and 40, and the 6 Finnish Folk Songs, fifth of which, Fratricide, is slightly Bartókian. Sibelius’s contemporary and countryman Selim Palmgren put it perfectly when he wrote that ‘even in what for him were alien regions, [Sibelius] moves with an unfailing responsiveness to tone colour’, and Gimse brings finesse and distinction to this repertoire. This and the companion disc are first recommendations.

The Catalan composer Frederic Mompou (1893-1987) is hardly a household word (though Segovia performed his guitar pieces), probably because, unlike other Spanish composers of folkloric bent like de Falla, Albeniz and Granados he never wrote for the stage, which can be the ticket to immortality. But working in small forms doesn't make him a lightweight; miniatures don't lack drama or emotional interest – just look at what Chopin, Faurè and Schubert did. This new CD of Mompou's solo piano music joins a relatively select few by Europeans like Laurent Martin, Gustavo Romero, Stephen Hough, Alicia de Laroccha, and there's even one by the composer himself. This outing, by young Spanish pianist Jordi Masó, certainly seems to have captured Mompou's very special poetry.