Accordion Solo

The world’s first ever truly complete collection of these works, curated in association with world authority on Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky Research, Tubingen. 10 CDs (over 11 hours) of music, which includes: 2 hours of premiere international recordings, such as Tchaikovsky’s earliest surviving work “Anastasie-valse” and some of his solo piano transcriptions of his orchestral works, including the Festival Coronation March and the 1812 Overture (complete). A piano transcription of the complete Nutcracker Ballet – The first recording on a major international label. Valentina’s most ambitious undertaking in the recording studio to date.

Admirers of Luciano Berio's Sequenzas have long wished for an affordable, high-quality collection of these masterpieces for solo instruments, considered by some to be the core works in the composer's oeuvre. Deutsche Grammophon released Ensemble InterContemporain's fabulous set in 1994, but its relatively high price and incompleteness make it a second choice when compared with the 2006 set on Naxos, which is both reasonably priced and complete, now that Sequenza XIV for cello appears on CD for the first time. Of course, bargaining over cost and completeness is one thing, but artistic quality is another important consideration: how does the Naxos edition fare in its performances and sound quality? While Ensemble InterContemporain's terrific compilation practically guarantees accuracy and authenticity – many of Berio's original musicians were involved in the project – the performances on this triple-disc set are quite comparable and wholly convincing in virtuosic skills, lustrous timbres, and splendid recording quality; only an adept student of these pieces could note any discrepancies, and those would be minor.

Renowned for his rich production in the field of orchestral music, Kalevi Aho is also a prolific composer for chamber forces. Here three works spanning two decades have been combined, with the Sonata for two accordions originating in 1984 as a Sonata for solo accordion described by the composer in his own liner notes as ‘comparable in aspiration with Liszt’s most virtuosic piano works’.