|
This second CD is
dedicated to my friend, the actress Phillada Sewell, whose generosity in lending
me her Steinway to replace mine, (destroyed in a disastrous house fire in 1981)
made these CDs a possibility. As with my first CD, all the pieces were recorded
in my drawing room.
|
For this second selection of favourite piano pieces, I have chosen seven by
the great romantic Russian composer Scriabin - for me one of the great poets
of music. Like Debussy with his full-tone scales, Scriabin had a musical message
to give and, like Chopin, he often conveyed this in short, exquisite preludes
and studies. By playing these seven pieces in succession, I hope they will better
convey the harmonic idiom which is unique to Scriabin and has, for me, a special
appeal. |
The Brahms and Schubert pieces are examples of the supreme art of their composers.
A few years before he died, Rachmaninoff revised his famous melody in E and
I heard him play it in this revised version at his recital at the Queen’s Hall
in about 1937. His playing was as unforgettable and as spellbinding as usual.
It is this revised version I play on this disc.
Seguidillas by Albeniz is 100% Spanish and pure entertainment, whilst Liszt’s
Sonetto del Petrarca is a fine example of music as the language of emotions.
(I recall) it was the first item on Horowitz’s first recital in London, in about
1924, and I was completely captivated by it. Chopin’s Nocturne Op.15/1 with
its impression of a passing summer thunderstorm is another strongly emotional
piece for me. Godowski’s Transcriptions show what a great musician can do with
simple melodies. I have included Liszt’s lovely "Soirée de Vienne
après Schubert" because the technical fluency to cope with its difficulties
eluded me when I started to play it in 1939. Only now, sixty years later, have
I been able to come to terms with it.
I hope these pieces will give you the pleasure they have, over the years, given
to me.
As with the first CD, all proceeds will go to charity.
Dudley Steynor. September 1999
Top
Tracks on Volume II
1 |
Albeniz |
Seguidillas |
4.17 |
2 |
Liszt |
Sonnetto Del Petrarca No. 128 |
6.54 |
3 |
Brahms |
Intermezzo Op. 16/6 |
3.41 |
4 |
Chopin |
Nocturne Op 15/1 |
5.34 |
5 |
Schubert |
Momens Musicaux Op 94/2 |
6.29 |
6 |
Schubert |
Momens Musicaux Op 94/3 |
2.13 |
7 |
Schubert |
Impromptu Op 142/2 |
6.09 |
8 |
Scriabin |
Etude Op 2/1 |
3.46 |
9 |
Scriabin |
Prelude Op 11/9 |
1.36 |
10 |
Scriabin |
Prelude Op11/5 |
1.49 |
11 |
Scriabin |
Prelude Op11/13 |
1.34 |
12 |
Scriabin |
Prelude Op 11/10 |
2.05 |
13 |
Scriabin |
Prelude Op 16/5 |
0.39 |
14 |
Scriabin |
Poem Op 32/1 |
3.52 |
15 |
Rameau/Godowsky |
Musette en Rondeau |
4.12 |
16 |
Saint-Saens/Godowsky |
The Swan |
2.45 |
17. |
Palmgren |
Finnish Dance |
1.15 |
18. |
Rachmaninoff |
Melodie in E (Revised) |
4.50 |
19. |
Liszt |
Soirée de Vienne No 6 |
9.10 |
|
