Arensky Piano Etude

Teacher of Rachmaninov and Scriabin, Anton Arensky (1861-1906) divided his life between metropolitan St Petersburg and provincial Moscow – during the second half of the 19th century, as Stephen Coombs points out in his excellent notes, ‘a city of sharp contrasts, fiercely religious, noisy and mournful… [of] sober days… followed by riotous nights’. A contemporary recalled him as ‘mobile, nervous, with a wry smile on his clever, half-Tartar face, always joking or snarling. All feared his laughter and adored his talent.’ Rosina Lhevinne remembered him being ‘shy and rather weak’. Tchaikovsky, like Prokofiev and Stravinsky, had time for his art, but Rimsky (whose pupil he’d been) thought he would be ‘soon forgotten’. Maybe Arensky, drunkard and gambler, was no genius, and he was demonstrably lost among the elevated peaks of Brahmsian sonata tradition. But that he could turn a perfumed miniature more lyrically beautiful than most, more occasionally profound too, is repeatedly borne out in the 27 vignettes of this delicate anthology (Opp. 25, 41, 43 and 53 in full and excerpts from Opp. 36 and 52 ).

In BIS' Chinoiserie, pianist Jenny Lin brings one of the most compelling and relevant themed recitals to be heard on disc in years, a collection of pieces by Western composers that attempts to explore the subject of China in some regard, not only musically but culturally.

Pianophiles will warmly embrace and find much to enjoy in this 10 CD set of the complete studio recordings of the Australian pianist Eileen Joyce (1908-1991). It's the first time such a comprehensive collection has been compiled. Her recorded legacy has been unjustly neglected over the years, save for single CDs from labels such as Dutton, Testament and Pearl. Only APR have seriously championed her cause with a 5-CD set: ‘The Complete Parlophone and Columbia Solo Recordings 1933-1945’, issued in 2011 (review). Needless to say, all of those recordings are to be found in this new Eloquence edition.

The Trio Then-Bergh (violin), Wen-Sinn Yang (cello), and Michael Schäfer (piano) provide a cross-section of the golden age of Russian music in their new Genuin recording. These three exceptional musicians play masterpieces compiled and arranged by the composer Alexander Krein in the first half of the 20th century.

Decca’s first FFRR concerto recording available for the first time: Eileen Joyce / Tchaikovsky 2nd Piano Concerto – never released on 78rpm and long thought lost, the test pressings were recently found at the International Piano Archives in Maryland.

The box set comprised 100 volumes featuring 72 pianists of the 20th century, each volume with two CDs and a booklet about the life and work of the featured pianist. The set contains a variety of composers from different eras, from Baroque to Contemporary classical.