Scriabin: Fantasy in B minor, Op. 28

The American Pianists Association was founded in New York City in 1979 by Tony Habig and Victor Borge. Its mission is to discover and support young world-class pianists through competitions, performance tours and educational programmes.Winners receive assistance for two years, including a cash award and career services valued at $75,000. Currently, the APA awards three Fellowships: The DeHaan Classical Fellow; the Max I. Allen Classical Fellow; and the Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz.

Chisato Kusunoki’s performances are highly regarded for their lyrical intensity and subtle virtuosity. They demonstrate an affinity for such important composer-pianists as Rachmaninoff and Medtner. The Times remarked on her ‘wonderfully fleet and supple fingers, quick to locate the music’s inner voices’

Russian pianist Ilya Rashkovskiy debut disc on Alpha Omega Sound. His choice of programme concentrates on the wonderful form of pianistic composition by way of fantasies and sonatas by Mozart, Liszt, Chopin, and Scriabin. This is an excellent introduction to a new artist who is already gaining international acclaim through an ever increasing schedule of concerts

A child prodigy at age 6, 20-year-old Russian pianist Ilya Raskkovskiy won 1st Prize at the inaugural Hong Kong International Piano Competition in 2005. He also won second prize at the 2001 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris and has since performed in several important concert venues in Europe, Japan and Russia, including the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the Theatre du Chatelet and Salle Gaveau in Paris, Symphony Hall in Osaka, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Numbered among the musical elect of her generation, the multi-award-winning Xiayin Wang presents a recital of piano music that virtually spans Scriabin’s career.

The mysterious impressionism of Vers la flamme (Towards the Flame) builds to an exhilarating intensity that is matched by the two contrasting Poems.

From his early Waltzes and Polonaise, with their echoes of Chopin, via the rhapsodic abandon of the Fantaisie, to the Two Dances, composed shortly before his death, these works chart an almost mystical trajectory through the composer’s life.

“Scriabin’s Fantaisie in B minor Op. 28 was a luscious wash of colour, infused with big swirls of sound. [Yang’s] soon-to-be released recording of the composer’s music should be a dandy.” The Washington Post

The debut CD from the winner of the 2007 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition.

In the early years of the 20th century Bartók, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg were venturing out in their own modernistic directions. Yet, at the same time, there were a number of composers in Russia who continued to compose in a Romantic manner. With so much attention being paid to the modernists, many of these Romantic composers were largely ignored and have fallen into unjust neglect. Of the seven composers presented in this recital, only Rachmaninoff has become a household name. Scriabin has gained considerable respect (though in great part for his late works, which are quite modern in style) and Medtner is only just starting to be appreciated by a wider public. Bortkiewicz, Liadov, Liapunov, and Rebikov wrote attractive, emotionally appealing music, but they have yet to receive the recognition they deserve. The majority of their works are hardly known. This collection hopes to introduce solo piano works of some of these unjustly neglected Russian composers.

Bulgarian-born Nadejda Vlaeva's playing has been acclaimed wherever she has appeared. Lazar Berman called her talent "God-given"; Maestro Hans Graf observed that "her musicality and the depth of her interpretation amazed me." Arnold Steinhardt, leader of the Guarneri String Quartet, praised her as "one of those people of extraordinary ability whom we hope for but rarely see." She has performed internationally, giving solo recitals in Bulgaria, Russia, Slovakia, Hungary, The Netherlands, Germany, England, Spain, Canada and the United States, where she now makes her home.