| Label: BIS
Catalog: CD9044
Format: CD Roland Pöntinen, piano
*Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Leif SegerstamJ.S. Bach: Prelude No.1 in C major from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Book 1
Beethoven: Bagatelle in A minor, 'Für Elise'
Weber: Perpetuum Mobile (Rondo from Piano Sonata in C major, Op.24)
Schubert: Moment musical in A flat major, D 780 No.2
Händel: Minuet in G minor
Chopin: Nocturne No.9 in B major, Op.32 No.1; Prelude in D flat major, 'Raindrop', Op.28 No.15; Boléro, Op.19; Mazurka No.20 in D flat major, Op.30 No.3; Mazurka No.25 in B minor, Op.33 No.4; Nocturne No.18 in E major, Op.62 No.2; Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. posth.; Mazurka in A minor, Op.17 No.4; Ballade No.2 in F major, Op.38
Rossini: Agnus Dei from Petite messe solennelle
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in F minor, L 118
Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso in E major, Op.14
Robert Schumann: Träumerei from Kinderszenen, Op.15
Anton Rubinstein: Valse-Caprice in E flat major
Rachmaninov: Lilacs, Op.21 No.5; Daisies, Op.38 No.3; Polka de V.R.; Prelude in C sharp minor, Op.3 No.2
Liszt: Abendglocken from Weihnachtsbaum; Drei Notturnos (Liebesträume); Valse oubliée No.1
Kreisler: Liebesfreud
Tausig: Man lebt nur einmal from Walzer-Capricen nach Johann Strauss
Moszkowski: Étincelles (Morceau caractéristique), Op.36 No.6
Debussy: Clair de lune from Suite bergamasque
Tchaikovsky: *Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor, Op.23; Lullaby
Stenhammar: Fantasy in B minor, Op.11
Grieg: *Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16; Bryllupsdag på Troldhaugen (Wedding Day at Troldhaugen), Op.65 No.6
Improvisations: Amarcord Improvisation on a theme by Nino Rota; Improvisation on 'Promenade sentimentale' from the film Diva, by Vladimir Cosma; Rota Reminiscence on themes by Nino Rota from Amarcord
Falla: Andaluza from Cuatro Piezas Españolas
Satie: Je te veux; Trois Gymnopédies; Fantaisie-Valse; Gnossiennes Nos 1, 4 & 5
Albéniz: Tango español in A minor, Op.164; Evocación from Iberia, Boo I
Seymer: Solöga (Sun-eye) from Sommarcroquiser
Stefan Pöntinen: Cinema Music
Busoni: Nuit de Noël
Prokofiev: Toccata in D minor, Op.11
Ginastera: Danza de la moza donosa from Danzas argentines
Granados: Quejas, ó la maja y el ruiseñor from Goyescas, Op.11
Janácek: The Madonna of Frýdek from On an Overgrown Path Roland Pöntinen first entered a recording studio for BIS in 1983 - at the age of 20 - and released his début recital disc the following year. Since then he has appeared on more than 60 discs in the label's catalogue, as soloist with orchestra, in piano recital and chamber music programmes. Drawn from this impressive discography, Piano Rhapsody is a wide-ranging collection of pieces which allows us to admire the talent, the breadth of repertoire and the unquenchable curiosity of this 'pianists' pianist'. But it is also an odyssey through the piano literature, which takes in the well-known and less familiar (from Für Elise to Carl Tausig's Johann Strauss paraphrase), and features miniatures as well as bravura works (Satie's Gnossiennes and Grieg's Piano Concerto). It also traverses a large tract of music history, making stops in the 1720s (Bach's Prelude No.1 in C major), the budding Romantic era (C.M. von Weber's Perpetuum Mobile) and 'the Age of the Great Virtuosos' (Liszt and Rubinstein, among others) and reflecting the proliferation of national schools in the early 20th century, with composers of Russian, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish and Czech extraction. All in all, the generous playing time (5 hours 20 minutes) and the wide-ranging programme provide a unique opportunity to explore the piano and its literature, with one of Sweden's finest pianists as our guide.  Price: $57.98 |
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