Rachmaninov: Étude-Tableau, Op. 39 No. 4 in B minor

“Time and again Wang shows us why she’s become the world’s darling, whether shading dynamics poetically in a morsel of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, clarifying the multiple layers in Albéniz’s Triana, or romping with the preposterous glitter of Horowitz’s Carmen Variations.” The Times, 23rd March 2012 ****

“A disc of encores needs a compelling executant to justify itself, but this young pianist’s technique is quietly transcendent, her musicianship zestful and profound. The sequence itself is satisfying.” Sunday Times, 1st April 2012

“In the Saint-Saens-Horowitz Danse macabre Wang storms the heights and her playing is of an unquenchable virtuosity. She herself declares all these pieces to be among her most cherished encores, and she has been superbly recorded in them.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2012

“No point trying to fault anything: the lightness and flexibility of her touch takes the breath away, and her sound is at every moment transparently controlled, each piece displaying insight and affection...Given that these bonnes bouches were never designed to be consumed in bulk, this young virtuoso has pulled off a remarkable feat.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2012 *****

“Uniquely treasurable and inspiring performances in ideal remastered sound." Gramophone

“Recorded live at Richter's beloved Aldeburgh in 1966, this issue shows an incomparable pianist at the height of his powers. Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine a more authentic yet personal voice in Prokofiev's Fourth and Scriabin's Ninth Sonatas. Richter carved out a special niche in Prokofiev's Fourth Sonata, the most cryptic and ambiguous of the series written in a language that can seem oddly exclusive and inaccessible to those born outside Russia. No other pianist has approached Richter in this work, in his capacity to clarify so much awkward writing while at the same time (in the central Andante assai) acknowledging a wholly individual utterance full of dark confidences and, in the finale, a forced gaiety alive with stiff virtuoso challenges resolved in a mock-triumphant coda.
Few performances of the Scriabin have been more stealthily mobile or breathed a more satanic menace. For once, directions such as avecune douceur de plus en plus caressante et empoisonnée are made meaningful rather than merely idiosyncratic or eccentric. Yet, in more amiable territory Richter is enviably poised, less remote or enigmatic in Mozart's G major Sonata, K283, than one might have expected. His opening Allegro is gently flowing and is memorably contrasted with his brilliantly vivacious finale.
The recordings have come up excellently, allowing us to appreciate Richter's range, unique empathy in Russian music and endlessly thoughtprovoking musicianship in all their glory.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

‘A marvellous disc’ (BBC Music Magazine)

“This excellently chosen selection of Rachmaninov's finest solo piano works is played with superb panache by Demidenko, even if he lacks Richter's sovereign penetration and virtuosity. With a warm acoustic, a most appealing disc.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2007 ****