Australian pianist Tonya Lemoh has been the recipient of numerous international prizes and awards including first prize in the International Competition of Young Performers, Denmark 2003, and a Diplom d’Honneur at the 2002 International Grieg Piano Competition, Norway. She has been described as “a pianist of virtuosity and sensitivity” (Danish Music Journal) and Classical Music on the Web wrote of her commercial debut, “Lemoh is totally in command, and the music flows with great natural force. Very impressive.” She makes her debut on Chandos with the solo piano works of Austrian composer Joseph Marx. Joseph Marx can be described as a ‘romantic impressionist’, and the compositions performed here clearly demonstrate this late romantic style, reminiscent of Richard Strauss, Korngold and Reger. A formidable figure in Austrian classical music, Marx influenced the development of Austrian music through his compositions, teaching and musical criticism. He enjoyed great success throughout his life, but has since been unjustly neglected in part due to the radical compositional style of his peers, Webern and Berg. Of the works performed here, four of the pieces (Herbst-Legende, Carneval, Canzone and Die Flur der Engel) have never before been published or commercially recorded. Of the other six pieces, to date only one recording has been made, and is no longer commercially available, thus making the disc quite a rarity.
