Olfasson brings a fresh perspective to well-known repertoire through thoughtful programming, finding intriguing connections and shining a new light on the familiar
Tag: New release
Flowers We Are – Kurtág & Couperin
Yehuda Inbar, piano This new album from Israeli pianist Yehuda Inbar, released ahead of György Kurtág’s 100th birthday in February 2026, brings together music written over 200 years apart – a selection of pieces from different Ordres by Couperin and from various books of Játékok (‘Games’) by Kurtág, which juxtaposed and intertwined, reveal unexpected musical…
Small Treasures – Sarah Beth Briggs, piano
In her latest release, British pianist Sarah Beth Briggs celebrates the notion that “small is beautiful” in a selection of piano miniatures, including two of the greatest sets of miniatures ever written – Robert Schumann’s Waldszenen (Forest Scenes) and Brahms’s 4 Klavierstucke op. 119. These are interspersed with less familiar works by Clara Schumann and…
Odd Sympathies
Matthew Schellhorn, piano This new release from British pianist Matthew Schellhorn draws together an interesting and eclectic selection of piano pieces. As a long-standing champion of contemporary composers through commissions and premières, Schellhorn brings new music to a wider audience. The pieces on this new album all are by living composers, including Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Michael…
Palimpsest – a compelling debut album which demonstrates how music evolves
Palimpsest Rob Hao, piano Palimpsest – a manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing. – something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form ‘Classical music lends itself naturally to this layered form of creation as past and present, or composers…
Exploring the Beauty of Chopin’s Nocturnes with Tom Hicks
Tom Hicks, piano Complete Chopin Nocturnes (Divine Art Records) It’s rare to come across a recording, or indeed a live concert, where one thinks “yes, that is how it should be played!”, but this was my reaction on listening to Tom Hicks’ new recording of Chopin’s Nocturnes. I cannot fault this performance; it is wonderful…
Schubert Piano Sonata in A D959 & Moments Musicaux – Steven Osborne, piano
In his latest release, pianist Steven Osborne pairs Schubert’s penultimate piano sonata with the Moments Musicaux in a fine recording which makes a most satisfying “recital album”. ‘Who can do anything after Beethoven?’ the 31-year-old Franz Schubert wrote to a friend. Yet, in the last year of his life, he wrote three extraordinary piano sonatas,…
Communicating Without Words, a Family Speciality
Great performances of chamber trios and quartets often rely on the special relationships of players who communicate without words. But brothers and sisters have a natural advantage, having learned music from childhood together. Body language, discreet nods and the composer’s own “dialogue” work best among groups of siblings. The Pascal Trio (father and two sons)…
Exploring Stephen Hough’s ‘The World of Yesterday’: A New Piano Concerto
‘The World of Yesterday’ – written & performed by Sir Stephen Hough, Halle orchestra, Sir Mark Elder British pianist Sir Stephen Hough hadn’t intended to write a piano concerto. But during the dark days of the COVID pandemic, he was approached to write a score for a film about a concert pianist writing a piano…
10th Anniversary of Philip Glass’s Etudes: A New Interpretation
To mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of Philip Glass’s 20 Etudes for piano in November 2024, SOMM Recordings has released a Special Edition of Selected Etudes, performed by pianist and composer, Giusto Di Lallo. Following in the Etude-writing tradition of Chopin and Liszt – pedagogical tools to help pianists improve their playing –…
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