A l s o A v A i l A b l eA selection of Piano Classics titles

For the full listing please visitwww.piano-classics.com

BEETHOVEN ErOica VariaTiONs

racHMaNiNOFF cHOpiN VariaTiONs

cOpLaND piaNO VariaTiONs

Alexander Korsantia

Variations

Klára Würtz

SchubertPiano Sonata in B flat D960

Piano Sonata in A D664

Balázs Szokolay 2-CD

M E N D E L S S O H N

LIEDER OHNE WORTESongs without WordsComplete

The complete transcriptions and original piano works

V O L U M E 1

Giovanni Doria Miglietta, piano

Earl Wild BENJAMIN GODARD

PIANO WORKSBarcarolles

Scènes italiennesVingt pièces Op. 58

ALESSANDRO DELJAVAN

ÉTUDESc o m p l e t e

Zlata ChoChieva

Chopin

PCL0066

PCL0070

PCLD0067

PCL0069 PCL0072

PCL0068 SCHUMANNPiano Sonata Op. 14Romanzen Op. 28Humoreske Op. 20

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The Sonata in F minor was one of the many works of which Schumann declared could “only be understood against the background of the battles which Clara cost me”. It was begun in 1835, when he finally realized that the sixteen year old daughter of his former teacher Ferdinand Wieck, whom he had known since she was nine, was the love of his life, and completed in its first version during the “sad summer” of 1836 after her outraged father had forbidden Clara to see or communicate with him. The sonata has a complex compositional history: conceived on a grand scale as a five movement work with two scherzi flanking an extended variations movement, it was ready by March 1836 when receipt of the manuscript was acknowledged by his publisher Haslinger and Schumann had notified its intended dedicatee Ignaz Moscheles. However dates appearing on the surviving autograph and in particular that of “5th June 1836” at the end of the work suggest that Schumann subsequently made

movements, in some cases reverting to the original unpublished material. The four-movement version appeared under the title Grande Sonate in 1853 but was never performed in public during Schumann’s lifetime. However Clara did play it privately to Brahms during his momentous visit to the Schumanns in October 1853 and it had an influence on his own F Minor sonata (Op 5) much of which was composed during his stay with them. It was Brahms who gave the first public performance in 1862 and he also edited and arranged for the publication of the other original scherzo (the two omitted variations were published in 1983). Robert wrote to Clara that this sonata was a “Herzensschreinach” (a cry from the heart) in which her theme assumed “more guises” than she could imagine. This is a reference to the theme of the third movement designated Andantino de Clara Wieck whose initial descending five-note sequence – the Clara theme (which begins on C with A as its third note) - is woven into the fabric of the entire work (a similar

substantial modifications to it including the composition of a new finale. It is not certain who suggested calling the piece a concerto but Haslinger, with an eye to the market for novelties, was enthusiastic about the idea. And so in order to conform to concerto format, both scherzi were dropped and for some reason Schumann also decided to omit two of the six original variations. It was published under the title Concerto sans orchestre on October 14th 1836 as his Op 14. However many including Liszt and Moscheles considered the concerto designation as meaningless with Moscheles also judging the work to be unsuitable for the “casual listener”, and in this he was proved right as it turned out to be Schumann’s least popular sonata.

Several years later, the Hamburg publisher Julius Schuberth acquired publication rights in the work and wishing to issue it as more conventional four-movement sonata asked Schumann for a scherzo. He reinstated the second of the scherzi omitted from the 1836 version and made several revisions to all the

motif appears at the opening of the Op 17 Fantasie). Its arresting statement begins the sonata and, in modified form, the Scherzo and is concealed throughout the Prestissimo possibile finale, acting as a defiant declaration on Schumann’s part that while Ferdinand Wieck might be able to banish Clara from his life, he could not exclude her from his music.

The Op 20 Humoreske was written and (it appears) printed in the astonishingly brief period of eight days in March 1839 while Schumann was in Vienna attempting unsuccessfully to make arrangements for publication there of his journal the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. In a letter to Clara on the circumstances of its composition he wrote “I sat at the piano all week, composing, writing , laughing and crying all at once” and these mood swings are reflected in the oscillation between exhilaration and moody reflection (depending on which of Schumann’s alter egos – Florestan or Eusebius – has the upper hand) . Schumann was the first to use the term Humoreske/Humoresque,

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previously applied only in literary critical contexts, as the title of a piece of music (which does not mean he intended the piece to be humorous – in fact he once described this as the most melancholy of his works). The duality of its emotional register derives from the writings of his favourite author Jean Paul and the distinction he drew between Gemütlich (showing depth of emotion/sensitivity) and Witzig (mercurial/fantastic). At bars 251-275 an additional line appears containing an Innere Stimme (inner voice) whose melodic line is reminiscent of Clara’s Romance in G minor (something which Schumann claimed was pure coincidence and an indication of their empathetic natures). Opinions differ as to whether this line should actually be played (as it is in this recording ) or, as Clara believed, only sensed and voiced inwardly by the performer. The Op 28 Drei Romanzen were composed during the last months of 1839 in the bitter circumstances of the court case brought by Schumann in attempt to force Wieck to

withdraw his objections to their marriage which in turn prompted Wieck to issue furious denunciations of him. Schumann sent the work to Clara as a Christmas present indicating however that he did not think them good enough to dedicate to her. She replied on 1st January 1840: “as your bride, you must indeed dedicate something further to me, and I know of nothing more tender than these three Romances, in particular the middle one, which is the most beautiful love duet”. Her critical faculties were not however entirely clouded by her warm reception of the pieces: she suggested that he look at them again and he made several revisions prior to their publication in October 1840, the month after they were married. The Second Romance, which Schumann came to think of as one of his finest works, is unusual in that it is notated on three staves something of which he normally disapproved.

Born in 1985, Vincenzo Maltempo is considered “one of the most interesting Italian pianists of his generation” (La Stampa). He completed his musical studies under the guidance of Salvatore Orlando (disciple of the pianist Sergio Fiorentino) graduating with the highest honours from the Conservatory "S. Cecilia" in Rome, followed by training by Riccardo Risaliti at the International Piano Academy "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola, earning a bachelor's completion in 2009.

Fundamental to his concert career was the first prize at the prestigious piano competition "Premio Venezia" in 2006, held at the theater "La Fenice", received with great acclaim by audiences and critics. Lorenzo Arruga wrote on that occasion: “Maltempo has a loving attitude for authors and music, a warm touch, phrasing free enough to speak musically face to face with the public, almost a little old-fashioned.” Following this success he has performed a series of concerts in important Italian and foreign music halls and theatres in Spain, England,

Vincenzo MaltempoAustria, Germany. He has been invited back several times to play at the theater "La Fenice" in Venice, both as a soloist with the orchestra and he has been a guest of the Accademia Filarmonica of Verona and Bologna, of the "Bologna Festival" and other major Italian concert associations. He has been called an "acute interpreter able to read the pages of the repertoire on the basis of a self-reflection interpretation”. (La Repubblica). He has collaborated with the Orchestra of the Gran Teatro "La Fenice", the "Orchestra sinfonica giovanile del Piemonte” and the "Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra" under the direction of Ovidiu Balan, Paolo Olmi, Bartholomeus Van de Velde and Claudio Maria Micheli . He has also collaborated with pianist Francesco Libetta in various editions of "Miami International piano festival in Lecce" and “four hands” during the famous and ancient "Sagra musicale Malatestiana" in Rimini, where he played an “Alkan marathon” in a three part recital in 2012. Later that year he also debuted at the “Liszt Festival” in Raiding, Austria.

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Austrian label “Gramola” and presented with a concert at Bosendorfersaal in Vienna. Acclaimed by critics, “the infallible instinct for balance and beauty of sound; we have not heard “Réminescences de Norma” played with such perfect phrasing and with such a sensual “bel canto” for a long time.” (R. Nemecek, Piano news).

In 2012 he recorded his debut album for London based record label “Piano Classics”, a CD entirely dedicated to the French Romantic composer Ch. V. Alkan, particularly dear to him and of whom he is a passionate scholar. He gives lectures about his art in some Conservatories in Italy and is planning also to write a biography. The album was received with great enthusiasm, being awarded the coveted five stars in the magazine “Diapason” (“We must return to the pioneering – and undervalued – recordings of Ronald Smith to find an approach so healthy and convincing to the music of Alkan”) and called “exhilarating, a real revelation” by Andrew Clements in the Guardian

newspaper. Following the success of this publication he has recorded a second album in his Alkan series. This has also received 5 stars in the Guardian, which defined it as “thrillingly demonic!” with a “larger-than-life swagger and unflinching technique”. Moreover, he played the complete set of Alkan’s 12 Etudes Op. 39 in a planned tour of Japan in November 2013, one of the very few times in history that an interpreter plays them all in a single recital.

After the success at the piano competition in Venice he is on the podium of other International Competitions. In 2008 he was awarded First Prize at the International Competition “F. Liszt” of Grottammare (Italy) and in 2012 unanimous First Prize at the International Competition "G. A. Fano" with Leslie Howard as President of the jury.

In 2013 he was invited to be a member of the Jury of the XVII “S. Rachmaninov International Piano Competition” in Morcone (Italy).

In 2010 he began a fruitful collaboration with the Conductor Gustav Kuhn, who regularly invites him to give concerts at his Academy of Montegral in Lucca. Music critic Marcello Filotei wrote “phrasing elegant, virtuosity never ostentatious, mastery of form and musical sense. Jot the name of gentlemen, a pianist is born!”, for the “Erl Festspiele” at the “Festival-suedtirol” in Dobbiaco, where he had the opportunity to propose his own transcription for solo piano of the “Sinfonie in E” by Hans Rott. He has composed some transcriptions of major orchestral works which are published by the publishing house Ries & Erler Berlin.

2011 marked the date of a major debut at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, with a solo recital dedicated to F. Liszt, on the bicentenary of the birth – Gabriele Balloi calls him “a prodigy for whom everything seems to come easily...with a transcendental virtuosity that does not neglect even a single note.” And it is precisely to Liszt that he dedicated his first album, recorded in 2008 for the