Four Pieces - Four Pianos - Harmonia Mundi: HMM902299 - download

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They are all works requiring formidable technical ability, and pianist Alexander Melnikov brings clarity of touch and virtuoso flair to them all, transferring as if effortlessly from instrument... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2018, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 26th Jan 2018
Catalogue No: HMM902299
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Length: 79 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

26th January 2018
Gramophone Magazine

April 2018

Editor's Choice
Gramophone Awards

2018

Shortlisted - Instrumental
Presto Recordings of the Year

Winner 2018
Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year

2018

Winner - Instrumental

Schubert: Fantasie in C major, D760 'Wanderer'

Work length20:00

$4.00

$5.00

$5.80

Alexander Melnikov (Alois Graff piano, Vienna ca. 1835)

I. Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo

Track length5:41

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

II. Adagio

Track length6:01

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

III. Presto

Track length4:34

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

IV. Allegro

Track length3:44

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

Chopin: Études (12), Op. 10

Work length25:32

$12.00

$15.00

$17.40

Alexander Melnikov (Érard piano, Paris 1837)

1. Etude in C Major

Track length1:49

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

2. Etude in A Minor

Track length1:23

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

3. Etude in E Major

Track length3:11

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

4. Etude in C Sharp Minor

Track length1:55

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

5. Etude in G-Flat Major

Track length1:40

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

6. Etude in E-Flat Minor

Track length2:42

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

7. Etude in C Major

Track length1:33

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

8. Etude in F Major

Track length2:20

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

9. Etude in F Minor

Track length1:53

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

10. Etude in A-Flat major

Track length2:11

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

11. Etude in E-Flat Major

Track length2:19

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

12. Etude in C Minor

Track length2:36

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

Liszt: Réminiscences de "Don Juan" (after Mozart), S. 418

Work length18:09

$5.00

$6.25

$7.25

Alexander Melnikov (Bösendorfer piano, Vienna ca. 1875)

I. Grave

Track length4:31

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

II. Duetto. Andantino

Track length3:05

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

III. Variazione 1

Track length3:36

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

IV. Variazione 2. Tempo giusto

Track length3:41

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

V. Quasi Presto. Tempo deciso

Track length3:16

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka

Work length15:37

$3.20

$4.00

$4.65

Alexander Melnikov (Steinway piano, 2014)

I. Danse russe

Track length2:37

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

II. Chez Pétrouchka

Track length4:34

$1.00

$1.25

$1.45

III. La Semaine grasse

Track length8:26

$1.20

$1.50

$1.75

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Recording of the Week, Alexander Melnikov plays four pieces on four different pianos

26th January 2018

James listens to a fascinating new disc from pianist Alexander Melnikov, who performs four pieces of music by Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, and Stravinsky, on four different pianos.

Alexander Melnikov imagined this programme where four monuments from the piano repertoire are interpreted in their original instrumental environment. The four pianos chosen have characteristics corresponding to those of the instruments on which these virtuoso pieces were first performed. A journey where the horizons of sounds expand to dizzying new heights.

Reviews

May 2018

They are all works requiring formidable technical ability, and pianist Alexander Melnikov brings clarity of touch and virtuoso flair to them all, transferring as if effortlessly from instrument to instrument – though I bet it was not as easy as he makes it sound.

April 2018

I don’t know of an orchestral performance of [Petrouchka] that evokes the title character with greater sympathy and pathos than Melnikov achieves… Nor can I think of recorded performances of either Liszt’s or Stravinsky’s benchmark creations more compelling than these…Melnikov’s prevalent richness of detail, unforced but precise rhetoric and exquisite sense of colour are skilfully captured by the engineers.

26th January 2018

This idea of juxtaposing different pianos is a fascinating concept, but luckily it is more than just a gimmick. After the initial surprise of the varying timbres of each instrument, you soon forget about such technical considerations and become drawn in to the actual interpretations, all four of which are dazzling and highly recommended.

18th February 2018

Melnikov gives thrilling performances of four cornerstones of the repertoire.

25th January 2018

He makes good use of the tonal differences between registers on the Graff in the Wanderer Fantasy and exploits the light touch of the Érard to brilliant effect in the more bravura Chopin studies, while the Bösendorfer (missing from the London recital) produces a leaner sound than the maker’s later instruments.

Limelight Magazine November 2019

Here’s a great idea; matching four monuments of the repertoire with four instruments of the period – virtuoso pieces that stretched the pianos of the day to the extremes of their expressive possibilities...As for the final work, Stravinsky’s Trois Mouvements de Pétrouchka played on a modern Steinway, I may run out of superlatives. Think of Pollini’s drive and clarity with the temperature raised a few notches in terms of dramatic flair – it sweeps all before it and lifts the roof.

Four Pieces - Four Pianos

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Recording of the Week, Alexander Melnikov plays four pieces on four different pianos

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