Mark Forge

This release features a collection of what might be called piano orphans: commercial and non-commercial recordings of great pianists that simply have never found their way onto compact disc. Among these treasures are fifteen minutes of Dinu Lipatti playing Scarlatti and Brahms that have only recently surfaced; an unpublished disc of Alfred Cortot playing the “Russian Dance” from Petroushka; and previously unpublished excerpts of the Tchaikovsky first piano concerto played by Vladimir Horowitz with the Philadelphia Orchestra, recorded during a 1932 concert conducted by Fritz Reiner and recorded as an experiment by the Bell Telephone Laboratory. This is Horowitz's earliest known concert performance and is in amazing sound for that time. It is unfortunate that the entire concerto was not recorded, but hearing these excerpts will be a revelation for Horowitz fans. Also included are live concerto performances by Lev Puishnov and Guiomar Novaes. We feel certain that piano enthusiasts worldwide will treasure this 2-CD set as nothing like it has been heard since Gregor Benko produced his acclaimed Landmarks of Recorded Pianism LP forty years ago.

Awakenings 2007 Vol. 1: New Worlds (2007). Brendan Pollard donates his awesome twenty-minute 'E-Live 2006 Rehearsal' to get this double CD set underway. The initial sounds are as if vast objects are being hurled into the sea accompanied by all sorts of weird whooshes and twitters. A superb combination of sequences emerge from the aquatic depths. These meld rapid melodic runs as well as bass pulses. It is all underpinned by some wonderful mellotron. In other words Berlin School Heaven. More sequences are added accompanied by a flutey lead line. In the seventh minute things subside to more thick analogue sonic effects, coming out of it with a decidedly 'Ricochet' sounding collage of sounds. Very impressive indeed…

Brendan Pollard donates his awesome twenty-minute 'E-Live 2006 Rehearsal' to get this double CD set underway. The initial sounds are as if vast objects are being hurled into the sea accompanied by all sorts of weird whooshes and twitters. A superb combination of sequences emerge from the aquatic depths. These meld rapid melodic runs as well as bass pulses. It is all underpinned by some wonderful mellotron. In other words Berlin School Heaven. More sequences are added accompanied by a flutey lead line. In the seventh minute things subside to more thick analogue sonic effects, coming out of it with a decidedly 'Ricochet' sounding collage of sounds. Very impressive indeed. More sequences emerge including a sedate but wonderful three note one then an amazing one hundred mile an hour scorcher before things quieten down again and we get an exquisite moody finish.