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Maurice Ravel, while famous for his orchestral scores, and acknowledged as one of the great orchestrators also produced some of greatest piano works of the 20th century. Although he was no more than a fair pianist, his scores abound with very clear and precise instructions on how the work should be played – dynamics, tempi, phrasing and expression all must be clearly adhered to if the performer wishes to avoid coming to grief. These instructions brought him into conflict with some artists – including Toscanini, but most notably with his friend Ricardo Vines, who said that to play ‘Le Gibet’ from Gaspard de la Nuit as Ravel instructed would bore the audience to death. ‘I do not want to be interpreted, I want to be played’ was the uncompromising answer.

These 2CD contain his entire output for solo piano, from the early Serenade grotesque of 1892, through the masterpieces Gaspard de la Nuit, Valse nobles et sentimentales, and La Valse to his last piano work, Le tombeau de Couperin from 1917.

These 2CD contain his entire output for solo piano, from the early Serenade grotesque of 1892, through the masterpieces Gaspard de la Nuit, Valse nobles et sentimentales, and La Valse to his last piano work, Le tombeau de Couperin from 1917.

Adventurous piano Music of the composer in whose presence even Franz Liszt was afraid to play. Piano music ranging from the miniaturist to the gigantic.

Both modern Steinway and period Erard piano are used in this set, a fascinating way of comparison. Charles-Valentin Alkan, often called ‘the Berlioz of the piano’, that mysterious, reclusive genius of the Romantic epoch, will forever be linked in our imagination to Chopin and Liszt, both of whom caught the Parisian public’s attention to a greater extent than did Alkan.

Were they and their music more acceptable to the public due to the greater accessibility of many of their works, neither so uncompromisingly ‘difficult’ as Alkan can be in his music? These demands on the listener take the form of extending a musical idea to the limit of its development – often, in the most extreme cases (e.g. the climax of ‘Quasi-Faust’), leaving the listener feeling as if he or she had been through a hurricane. Might this tendency be traceable to his strictly orthodox Jewish heritage and schooling in Talmudic logic? With Alkan, that extraordinary pianist before whom it is said that Liszt himself felt nervous to perform, the exception, compositionally speaking, becomes the rule.

Felix Mendelssohn was a virtuoso pianist, and it is worth remembering that he was born in 1809, with his friend Schumann being born a year later in 1810, as was Chopin, and Liszt following in 1811. These composers were among the greatest pianists of the 19th century, and they were born at a time when the piano was a relatively modern instrument, and composers such as Hummel, Moscheles (Mendelssohn’s friend), Kalkbrenner and Ries were accorded adulation similar to pop stars today. Beethoven commenced his career in the 1790s as a virtuoso pianist.

No surprise then that the young Mendelssohn composed extensively for his chosen instrument from the outset. From early concertos and sonatas he quickly established his ‘mature’ style in works such as the Rondo capriccioso, and the Andante cantabile e Presto agitato.

The masterpieces that followed include the remarkably imposing Variations serieuses and the famous Songs without Words. Mendelssohn’s style did not change throughout his short creative life – he very quickly composed in what we know as his mature style from his early teens, something even Mozart didn’t achieve. This 4CD contains the Songs without Words, Variations serieuse, Kinderstucke, Rondo capriccioso, Capriccio, and Trois Fantasies ou Caprices plus several shorter works.

The most authorative complete recording of Fauré’s intoxicating pianistic flowers. The fact that Verlaine found his composer in Gabriel Fauré – that Clair de lune from Fêtes galantes and La Bonne Chanson rank among the composer’s most outstanding successes – does not mean that Fauré should only been seen as the composer of hazy dreams, of quicksilver emotions, of startled outpourings for fair turn-of-the-century listeners.

The Nocturnes alone – composed over a span of almost 40 years (1883–1922) – would suffice to prevent any identification of the composer, trained in the rigorous discipline of the Niedermeyer School, with the impressionist poet. Verlaine delights in the uncertainty of feelings and landscapes, thereby entertaining a confusion between a hazy exterior and the irresolutions of an aching soul – a continuing game of deceit.

In Fauré, on the other hand, one finds no such ambiguity: his consciousness does not allow itself to dissolve into a world where objects have completely lost their outline. Northern mists, a murky chiaroscuro, an unhealthy twilight, this is what suits Verlaine’s equivocal Nocturnes. Fauré is a man from the South: his Night retains all the luminosity and brightness of the Mediterranean, paths can be made out and emotions do not stray off into an uneasy twilight zone.

Dvorák considered himself only a modest pianist (he was a string player), and his music for piano has for long been neglected and considered of secondary importance to his symphonies, concertos and chamber works.

Whilst undoubtedly true, the output for solo piano does contain some of his more mundane efforts, closer study of the music reveals some gems well worth getting to know, and that all contain his innate gift for melody.

His largest work featuring piano, the G major piano concerto has finally made some headway in the concert repertoire, and has always been championed by leading pianists – Richter and Aimard to name just two. The piano trios, quartets and the quintet all have effective piano parts, and are well laid out for the pianist.

So why has the solo piano music been so neglected? These works span his entire creative life, from the simple little Polka in E of 1860, to the Theme and Variations, Suite in A, and the Humoresques of 1894. These last three works are his masterpieces for piano, and indeed the Seventh Humoresque in G became very famous due its use in a Joan Crawford film in 1946, and through arrangements by Fritz Kreisler and Art Tatum. The Suite in A, dating from his time in America (where he composed his Ninth Symphony ‘From the New World’) is better known today in its orchestral version. These CDs contain some wonderful little known music by one the best loved composers – music that deserves a wider audience.

The return of an all time bestseller of Brilliant Classics, and international breakthrough of Klára Würtz as a near-ideal Mozart player. Received rave reviews from all over the world.

Klára Würtz was born in Budapest, Hungary, and started playing the piano at the age of five. She made has made over 20 CD recordings, including the complete piano sonatas of Mozart, a selection of Schubert sonatas and the piano works of Robert Schumann.

Her Mendelssohn recording with her Amsterdam Pianotrio was the Critics’ choice of 2000 (Harris Goldsmith for International Record Review).

Mily Balakirev (1837-1910) was the founder of the group of Russian composers called ‘The Mighty Handful’. Together with Borodin, Rimsky Korsakov, Cui and Mussorgsky he helped create a distinctive Russian school of music that was not reliant on the influence of the Austro German school.

Studying at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, he won the praise of Glinka, and had an influence on the young Tchaikovsky. He wrote two symphonies, two piano concertos, several symphonic poems and many piano works. On these 6CDs his entire output for piano can be found.

A superb pianist, he produced one of the most taxing works ever written for the instrument, his Oriental Fantasy Islamey. His piano sonata is no less impressive, and the Seven Mazurkas are wonderfully melodic works. There is much to discover on these discs. Sadly, Balakirev suffered a complete nervous breakdown in 1871, and he withdrew from life, eventually emerging to take up a minor management role on the railways.

In 1876 he began to compose again, and in 1883 was appointed as director of the Imperial Chapel. He retired in 1895, and continued composing, but by now considered old fashioned and was forgotten even by his old friends. However, one young composer, Igor Stravinsky had a soft spot for him, and pitied him as he suffered from bouts of depression.

Erik Satie (1866-1925) was without doubt one of great ‘one offs’in musical history. Impossible to categorise, he composed around 100 works, which include film scores, ballets, melodies and above all piano works. A friend of Debussy, Ravel, Cocteau, Picasso and Diaghalev, he was at the core of the avant garde in Paris, and yet he remained an outsider – deliberately so.

Happy playing piano in jazz bars – where he and Debussy met each other, Satie was the antithesis of the late 19th century and early 20th musical world as dominated by Wagner and his adherents. The master of Bayreuth had proclaimed himself the prophet of ‘music of the future’and his vast opulently scored music dramas cast their spell over the Second Viennese school, and also Debussy, whose opera Pelléas et Melisande has a good deal of Parsifal and Tristan in its score. With Satie, it was the music of the past that was important, and he even returned to the tones of the ancient Greeks. Gymnopédies evokes the dance of children from ancient Sparta, who danced in honour of Apollo. Similarly, Gnossiennes is from the labyrinth at Knossos (Gnossos). It wasn’t all ancient Greek influences though that guided Satie’s inspiration – jazz and the music hall were potent influences Perhaps the most idiosyncratic work he composed is Vexations. He composed it in 1893, but refused to show the score to anyone, and the premiere took place in 1963 at the instigation of John Cage. The score occupies a single page, headed ‘Page Mystique. To play this motif 840 times in succession, it will be necessary to prepare oneself in advance, in total silence, by remaining absolutely motionless.’ A complete performance thus takes 18–30 hours. Cristina Ariagno plays an excerpt.

Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) was a close friend and contemporary of Rachmaninov. The two composers performed regularly together, and Rachmaninov considered Medtner to be a finer pianist than himself. His musical style, like his family background was more in the German style than his contemporaries at the Moscow Conservatory – with Brahms being a considerable influence. His three piano concertos are well worth getting to know, and display superb craftsmanship and a highly virtuosic technique. However, a problem that dogged Medtner was, that unlike his friend Rachmaninov, he never produced a work that had an instant appeal to the man in the street. Rachmaninov’s has all the sweep and passion one expects from a Russian concerto of the time, Medtner’s concerto is highly intellectual, has fewer moments of passionate music, and doesn’t give up its secrets easily.

His solo piano music is perhaps a good place to start discovering this enigmatic Russian master, and on these CDs are his 14 piano sonatas and his best known music, the wonderful ‘Fairy Tales’. Rachmaninov observed that all composers make mistakes when they are young, adding ‘only Medtner has, from the beginning, published works that it would be hard for him to better in later life. This set provides the opportunity to test this assertion as the sonatas span his early career to his old age.

The majority of Grieg’s Piano Works, played by his compatriot, Norwegian Hakon Austbó - Received great reviews, among which a Diapason d’Or.

Although his best-known compositions remain the A minor Piano Concerto and the incidental music composed for Ibsen’s fantastical play Peer Gynt, Grieg’s main achievement remains the shorter pieces he wrote both for piano solo and for orchestra, together with a large quantity of lyrical songs that show a remarkable balance between singer and piano accompaniment and some of which have found a firm hold in the Lieder singer’s repertoire.