Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1

Johannes Brahms was just 19 years old in 1852-53 when he wrote the first two piano sonatas he deemed worthy of publication. In these extended 4-movement compositions he built on the heritage of Beethoven.

The fact that Brahms had produced a pair of masterpieces was immediately recognised by his mentor Robert Schumann, who eased his young colleague’s way into the future with his celebrated article ‘New Paths’ of 1853.

Alexander Melnikov was born in Moscow in 1973 and began his music studies at the age of six, at Moscow’s Central Music School, then continued at the city’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory from which he graduated in 1997 (class of Lev Naumov). Regularly invited by Sviatoslav Richter, he participated in his festivals in Moscow (December Nights), and his chamber music festival at La Grange de Meslay (Tours, France). He completed his postgraduate studies with Elisso Virssaladze in Munich. From 2000 to 2002 he was a BBC New Generation Artist.

Alexander Melnikov appears regularly in recital at the world’s leading concert halls with major orchestras. Besides his well-established duo with Isabelle Faust his partners include Vadim Repin, Natalia Gutman, Yuri Bashmet, Alexander Roudine, Pieter Wispelwey, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and many others. In piano duo repertoire he appears regularly with Andreas Staier, Boris Berezovsky, and Alexei Lubimov. He also regularly performs on the fortepiano with Concerto Köln.

He has recorded several CDs on harmonia mundi, as a soloist (Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich) or as a chamber musician (Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Teunis van der Zwart). His recording of the Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues was a Gramophone Critics’ Choice 2010.

This CD is by prize-winner Fabio Martino (music competition of the Cultural Committee of German Business) and was produced in cooperation with the Bavarian Broadcasting Company.

This release includes two world premiere recordings of works by Edino Krieger and York Höller.

Following his critically acclaimed first Brahms release in 2006, Tilman Krämer brings together the piano sonatas 1 & 2, coupled with the delightfully forceful tones of the Scherzo. This release will undoubtedly receive the plaudits from the musical press, as did his first release – “…. it has been a long time since I have heard Brahms with such nuances”

Grace Francis was born in East London and attended the Yehudi Menuhin School before studying with Irina Zaritskaya at the Royal College of Music, where she was awarded the Chappell Gold Medal, the highest award for a pianist. She subsequently received a Wingate Scholarship to continue her studies with Martino Tirimo for several years. Among other prizes, she was a winner of the Negrada Piano House Heferer Award at the EPTA International Competition in Zagreb.

‘Grace Francis is a phenomenon. Technically, there seems to be nothing she can’t play. But more than that, there is a force in her, a compulsion, that gives her performances uncommon fire and energy.’ David Cairns Senior Music Critic, The Sunday Times

Somm New Horizons presents the young award winning pianist Alasdair Beatson.

Pianist Hardy Rittner presents his second volume of his exploration of Brahm’s early piano works. These beautifully crafted pieces by the gifted young composer are played by Rittner on a magnificently restored Bösendorfer grand piano dating from 1849-50.