Bartók: Piano Sonata, Sz. 80, BB 88

Pianist Diane Walsh is heard in four masterpieces from the first half of the twentieth century. This newly re-mastered release was originally recorded in 1990 for Music and Arts. From the moment that Vladimir Horowitz premiered Samuel Barber's "Sonata", Op. 26, in Havana, December 1949, Barber's brilliant and poetic score has been regarded as a piano classic. Composed and dedicated to pianist Dinu Lipatti, Frank Martin's "8 Preludes" offer a wide range of moods and textures. Prokofiev's "Sonata No. 2", the earliest work in this collection, was composed in 1912. Regarded then as ‘ultra-modern', this piece's driving rhythms and virtuosity were a perfect vehicle for the young composer/pianist, who premiered the sonata in 1914, in St. Petersburg. Bartók also premiered his own "Sonata", in Budapest, December, 1926. The work's motoric rhythms and violent outbursts are given a performance of great intensity by Diane Walsh. Diane Walsh's numerous awards over a 35-year international career include the top prizes at the Munich International Piano Competition and the Salzburg International Mozart Competition.

"Jeno Jando starts an important new series devoted to Bartok's piano music with splendid performances of three important works: the Sonata, the Suite op.14, and Fifteen Hungarian Folksongs. He seems to have a special affinity for the playful pulsations of these pieces, as well as finding underlying connections in the sonata that make it quite dramatic." - Turok's Choice, December 2001