Category: Piano Music

ULYSSES ARTS RELEASES FIVE NEW ALBUMS IN AUTUMN 2023, ALL INCLUDING WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS

11/8/2023

British label Ulysses Arts is releasing five new albums in autumn 2023, all including world première recordings. Founded as a digital consultancy for classical music in 2008, Ulysses Arts has developed into an innovative record label presenting albums dedicated to original programming and new works.

Ulysses Arts' director, James Ross, comments: 'This is the most ambitious series or releases in our history. We are proud to be presenting this outstanding range of new music, great performers and ensembles, including musicians from the UK, USA, Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Hungary. Collectively, these five albums include the work of nineteen living composers, showing classical music today as a thriving, evolving art form, full of energy and imagination.'

Click above covers and titles below for full details:

22 September: Paul Henley Piano Works
Duncan Honeybourne, piano

Piano Sonatas No. 1, 2 and 3; Five Epigrams; Suite; Adagietto

UA230060

29 September: Todd Mason Violin Concerto & Chamber Suite

Tosca Opdam, violin; Budapest Scoring Orchestra; Péter Illényi, conductor

UA230080

6 October: All Shall be Amen

Caritas Chamber Choir, directed by Benedict Preece

New choral music by Gabriel Jackson, Cecilia McDowall, Phillip Cooke, Sarah Cattley, Eric Choate, Benedict Preece, Neil Wright, Andrew Smith and David Conte.

UA230120

3 November: Neoteric Ensemble Volume 1
Toby Street, James Fountain, Sarah Field, Rob Buckland, Richard Watkin, Adrian Miotti

New music for brass and saxophone sextet by Rob Buckland, Misha Mullov-Abado, Andy Panayi, Charlotte Harding, Toby Street, Dan Jenkins and Mark Nightingale.

UA220001

10 November: Soliloquies

Songs by Messiaen, Chausson, Frank Bridge, Hanns Eisler and Paul Willot-Förster

Maria Hegele, mezzo-soprano and Anna Szałucka, with Connie Pharoah, viola and Emily Turkanik, violin.

UA230090

Eletronic press kits, listening links and CDs for all albums are available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts.

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NIMBUS MUSIC PUBLISHING RELEASES NEW PERFORMING EDITION OF J.S. BACH'S THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER ON 6 OCTOBER 2023

9/8/2023

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Vladimir Feltsman

Nimbus Music Publishing is releasing a new performing edition of J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, edited by Vladimir Feltsman, on 6 October 2023.

This edition is based, based on the text of the Bach-Gesellschaft's 1866 score, aims to assist those 'desirous of learning' with suggestions and information to help them learn, understand and perform the works of J.S. Bach. Performing suggestions are added in light grey and are based on Baroque traditions, modern practices and the editor's expeirne ceof studying, performing, recording and teaching Bach's works. The suggestions are not a 'must' to follow, rather meant to assist in the comprehension and practical execution of The Well-Tempered Clavier and to encourage further exploration.

Editorial score markings in pale text include arrows pointing right to left, or left to right, indicating gradual slowing down or speeding up, commas to propose moments of delay; arrows point up and down indicate changes of dynamics, intensity and characer of sound.

This edition is available in two volumes, or as 48 separate ‘Preludes and Fugues’, either as a printed score or a PDF file.

More details including purchase links coming soon. Press review copies available.

This performing edition is accompanied by videos of Vladimir Feltsman's recordings of the complete Well-Tempered Clavier, also available as a four-volume CD set:

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Lyrita releases British Piano Concertos Volume 2 with Simon Callaghan and BBC National Orchestra of Wales on 1 September 2023

22/6/2023

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Lyrita releases British Piano Concertos Volume 2 with Simon Callaghan and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (SRCD.416) on 1 September 2023, with three world première recordings of works by John Addison, Gordon Jacob and Edmund Rubbra. The album is conducted by Stephen Bell and George Vass.

Gordon Jacob’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in E-flat was completed in 1957 and premièred on 11 July of that year at Bournemouth's Winter Gardens with soloist Edith Vogel. A Proms performance took place at London's Royal Albert Hall on 9 August 1957 with the same soloist. A review in The Times of the Proms performance declared that ‘the composer’s masterly understanding of the orchestra enables him to express each idea economically and in the most clean and attractive colours’, while The Sunday Times’s critic wrote that ‘having taught the craft of orchestration to a whole generation of composers, Dr. Jacob is himself a past master at clear and effective scoring’.

The Variations for Piano and Orchestra by John Addison, a pupil of Jacob's at the Royal College of Music, was written in 1948 and revised the following year. According to Alan Poulton’s Dictionary-Catalog of Modern British Composers, It was first performed in a BBC broadcast in 1960 by Margaret Kitchin. The work for a small orchestra, comprising double woodwinds, four horns, a pair each of trumpets and trombones, bass trombone, timpani, modest percussion and strings, and combines passages of lyrical charm with brilliantly effective soloistic writing.

Though the piano had played a prominent role in an earlier student piece by Rubbra, his Piano Concerto Op. 30 (1932) is the composer’s first fully-fledged, large-scale work for soloist and orchestra. The score features an elaborate solo part and requires substantial orchestral forces.

For publisher details, click below:
Jacob, Piano Concerto No. 2 (OUP)
Addison, Variations (Stainer & Bell)
Rubbra, Piano Concerto (ed. Simon Callaghan: Nimbus Music Publishing)

Buy CD: Europadisc Classical

'Gute und engagierte Interpretationen machen aus diesen drei Ersteinspielungen ein hörenswertes Programm.' Remy Franck, Pizzicato, 5 September 2023

'Marvellously enterprising and revelatory ... These wonderfully idiomatic performances and the recording are outstanding, and Simon Callaghan plays reflectively when needed but also with great power and agility. Snap it up.' Gary Higginson, British Music Society, 18 August 2023

'Stephen Bell ... i George Vass, director artístic ... dirigeixen l’Orquestra Nacional de la BBC de Gal·les —amb el seu so perfectament equilibrat—i fan un retrat vívid d’aquestes tres obres poc conegudes.' Núria Serra, Sonogramo, 29 August 2023

'Simon Callaghan’s discography continues to grow and he is proving to be an excellent guide especially in the field of British music. This new CD builds upon that reputation with intelligent and nuanced performances alertly accompanied by the BBC NOW recorded with Lyrita’s usual sophisticated engineering.' Nick Barnard, Music Web International, 4 September 2023

'The keen-edged and eager performances convince you that Callaghan, the BBC NOW and the two conductors [Stephen Bell and George Vass] are everything you might cherish for such a project.'
Rob Barnett, Music Web International, 2 August 2023

Simon Callaghan, George Vass and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Full press kit including listening links available from Ulysses Arts.

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YURI PATERSON-OLENICH - SCRIABIN, PIANO SONATA NO. 8 RELEASED BY ULYSSES ARTS ON 30 JUNE 2023

25/5/2023

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Stream on Apple Music or download with booklet on iTunes - click above

Yuri Paterson-Olenich

British pianist Yuri Paterson-Olenich releases Scriabin, Piano Sonata No. 8, on 30 June 2023.

'Some years ago, I recorded an album of late Scriabin piano works, and in hindsight, there are pieces I wish I had also included. The Eighth Sonata is one of them. 2022 marked the sesquicentennial of Scriabin’s birth, and I was invited to perform in several celebratory concerts. One work I was asked to play was this Sonata and serendipitously, there was an opportunity to record it.

Written in 1912-13, the Eighth was in fact the last of Scriabin’s ten sonatas to be completed. It is perhaps the most abstract of his already esoteric later oeuvre. The composer described it as the most difficult of his sonatas and, during the short time between its completion and his death in 1915, he never performed it.

Igor Stravinsky described this Sonata as ‘incomparable’. Scriabin ingeniously employs a variety of techniques including sonata form, leitmotifs, variation and uses his own unique harmonic language to underpin and unify them. The writing is exacting and sophisticated - fully appreciating the work entails imaginatively losing oneself in its elaborate cascades of sound.'
(Yuri Paterson-Olenich)

Featured on Apple Music New in Classical playlist

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts.

Recorded at Eton College by John Croft / Chiaro Audio. Artwork by Hannah Whale / Fruition Creative Concepts

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HAHN, KŒCHLIN, TAILLEFERRE PIANO DUOS WITH ADRIAN FARMER AND MARTIN JONES RELEASED ON 7 JULY 2023

2/5/2023

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Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music - click above

Martin Jones has been one of Britain’s most highly regarded solo pianists since first coming to international attention in 1968 when he received the Dame Myra Hess Award. The same year he made his London debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and his New York debut at Carnegie Hall, and ever since has been in demand for recitals and concerto performances. He has made over 90 recordings with Nimbus Records exploring rarely-played music including the complete works of 18 composers.

Adrian Farmer trained as an accompanist at Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music following a music degree at Birmingham University. Adrian has made several recordings with other Nimbus artists: bass-baritone Shura Gehrman, pianists Nina Walker, Simon Callaghan, and Martin Jones. It is with soprano Charlotte de Rothschild that he has found his most enduring partnership releasing albums which include the première recording of the songs of her ancestor, Mathilde de Rothschild.

REVIEWS

'Recording quality is pristine, and the two pianists play this repertoire with true understanding. Altogether, an absolute delight.' Phillip Scott, Limelight, September 2023

Roger Nichols, BBC Music Magazine, 8 August 2023

William Kreindler, MusicWeb International, 23 August 2023

Michel Dutrieue, Stretto, 14 July 2023

Núria Serra, Sonograma, 29 June 2023

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts

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PAUL HENLEY PIANO WORKS ALBUM WITH DUNCAN HONEYBOURNE RELEASING ON 22 SEPTEMBER 2023

2/4/2023

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Ulysses Arts releases Paul Henley's Piano Works album on 22 September 2023, performed by Duncan Honeybourne, with several works pre-released digitally on Apple Music during the summer.

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music - click above

Duncan Honeybourne

Duncan Honeybourne comments: 'Paul Henley told me that he feels the piano is more 'orchestral' than any other solo instrument. His intention is to highlight its “very diverse expressive potential, ranging from beautiful lyricism to considerable rhythmic vitality”. As Henley explains: “although it has considerable lyrical potential, the piano is actually a percussive instrument”. The latter is particularly significant to him.'

All three sonatas are shot through with an attractive blend of the percussive and the lyrical: No. 3 is the most extended and ambitious scale, and with a correspondingly extended expressive range. The Suite was composed in 2002 to celebrate the eighth birthday of the composer’s son; its five movements convey an engaging directness and simplicity in character and design. Framed by two cheerful Fanfares, there is a bouncy Scherzo, a warm hearted Nocturne and a dramatic Chorale. As with all Henley’s music, it is effective but never loaded with complexity for its own sake. Sometimes touching, sometimes punchy, and often surprising, it is constructed skilfully with a distinctive ear for rhythmic zest and harmonic colour, allied to a natural gift for melodic charm.

ALBUM DETAILS

Piano Sonata No. 1 (2005): 13’02

i. Moderato ma maestoso - Allegro molto: 5’00
ii. Adagio: 4’42
iii. Allegro moderato :3’20

Sonata No. 2 (2016): 7’17
Allegro vigoroso - Meno mosso - Allegro moderato - Come prima -
Maestoso - Moderato calmo - Allegro vigoroso

Sonata No. 3 (2020): 20’42
i. ‘Processional’ - Solenne: 4’54
ii. ‘Moto perpetuo’ – Allegro molto e sempre tempo giusto: 2'05
iii. ‘Departure’ – Adagio: 6’10
iv. ‘Danza’ – Allegretto deciso: 7’33

Five Epigrams for Piano (2019): 9’23
i. Molto moderato
ii. Allegretto
iii. Andantino
iv. Allegro
v. Molto moderato

Suite for Piano (2002): 5’27

Adagietto (2020): 3’12

Epigram No. 1 in Apple Music playlists: New in Classical and Pure Piano:

More pre-order and pre-release track links will be published here.

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Piano Music of Francisco Mignone - Martin Jones, on Nimbus Records, releasing 5 May 2023

25/2/2023

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Francisco Mignone

'Although Mignone wrote a large number of pieces for piano solo, his preference had always been for the orchestra, and for solo song. In his works for the piano the search for orchestral colour and texture is clearly evident in his use of ornamentation, spaced chords and explorations at the extreme ends of the keyboard. His focus on piano composition tended to be sporadic, producing many pieces in the 1940s, almost nothing in the 50s and early 60s, and eventually a return to larger forms, in particular the 2nd, 3rd and 4th sonatas.

Mignone's works for piano solo fall into some natural groupings, the four sonatinas and four sonatas, more than thirty waltzes, and the the nine Lendas sertanejas. Of the remaining pieces two-thirds are written in a predominantly 19th century European language, and the remainder reflect the influence of Brazilian folklore, in rhythm and form.' © Adrian Farmer

Martin Jones

Martin Jones has been one of Britain’s most highly regarded solo pianists since first coming to international attention in 1968 when he received the Dame Myra Hess Award. He has made over 90 recordings with Nimbus Records exploring music that is not often played including the complete works of 18 composers. This year will see the release of four albums of newly discovered manuscripts of Daniel Jones. Also, together with Adrian Farmer, three albums of French music for four hands. During next year ,as well as giving concerts, he will complete three albums of the first recordings of all the piano works of Elizabeth Lutyens for Resonus Records, and continue his American Piano Series with Volumes 6 & 7 for Prova Recordings. THis will include several new works especially written for him, and, for Nimbus a collection of Brazilian music by Mignone, Gnatalli & Lorenzo-Fernandez.

Electronic press kit available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts

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Lyrita Releases Malcolm Lipkin Piano Music Album, performed by Nathan Williamson, on 7 April 2023

7/2/2023

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SRCD414: Malcolm Lipkin Piano Music

Lyrita is releasing a collection of Malcolm Lipkin’s piano music, recorded by renowned soloist Nathan Williamson. Included in this recording are Lipkin’s Nocturnes and Sonatas.

“Malcolm Lipkin's experience and skill as an executant who can perform his own music is evident in each of his piano scores. Often hypnotic and brooding, it beckons the listener in to an ethereal, uncanny soundscape. At other times, the material is brilliant and challenging, demanding from the player a formidable technique. Perhaps the most notable aspect of Lipkin’s writing for piano is its basic integrity. If, at a certain point as the music unfolds, the composer decides that an unvarying series of repeated notes or chords or arpeggiated figures is required for several bars then that is, unashamedly and irrefutably, what he sets down on the stave. This preoccupation with the fundamentals of piano writing is part of the very fabric of the material – shrewd, incisive and intuitive.” Paul Conway, 2023

Nathan Williamson performs at many leading venues as soloist and chamber musician, composes new work for a wide variety of artists at home and abroad, and directs performance and education and outreach projects on a local and national level. Recent performance highlights include the complete Beethoven Concertos with the Prometheus Orchestra, the premiere of Christopher Brown’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, international tours with the renowned new music ensemble Piano Circus, and a detailed exploration of piano works by Malcolm Lipkin culminating in the present album. During the pandemic Nathan gave online recitals for City Music Live and regularly streamed live music into schools and care homes.

On Malcolm Lipkin - The Symphonies: 'These performances are of great importance as examples of British Symphonies in the second half of the twentieth century': MusicWeb International

Electronic press kit available for press use.

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Viriginia Black, Beethoven Piano Sonatas: Power, Passion and Ecstasy: CRD Records, 7 April 2023

20/1/2023

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Pre-order on iTunes: click above

Virginia Black returns to the keyboard and her lifelong love - Beethoven's piano sonatas - in her latest album from CRD Records, released on 7 April 2023.

The three sonatas programmed here - The Tempest, Pathétique and Opus 110 - afford us a window onto Beethoven's life and his increasing struggle with hearing loss. Meanwhile we experience Beethoven at his best: breaking the rules of the sonata form and transcending them.

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Camille Saint-Saëns, Volume 4 - Duos for Harmonium and Piano - Miloš Milivojević, classical accordion and Simon Callaghan, piano, released by Nimbus Records on 3 February 2023

2/12/2022

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'The rise in popularity of the harmonium in the second half of the nineteenth century brought with it a large repertoire of chamber music, especially in France, where the instrument had been developed and refined. The combination of harmonium with piano was an especially popular one. As well as original compositions, the harmonium attracted composers making arrangements for reduced forces. The accordion, taking the role of the harmonium on these recordings, produces sound in a near identical way – air passes over vibrating free reeds made of metal.' Dr David Jones

It is the performers’ hope that the subtle shift from the 19th century French harmonium to a modern classical accordion will enable these delightful pieces to be performed more often and to gain the widest possible audience.

Electronic press kit available for reviewers.

ALBUM DETAILS

Camille Saint-Saëns. Volume 4: Duos for Harmonium and Piano
Miloš Milivojević, classical accordion
Simon Callaghan, piano

Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
1. Scherzo capriccioso Op. 36
2. Pastorale Op. 26

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
3. Duos Op. 8 : V. Scherzo

César Franck (1822-1890)
4. Prélude, fugue & variation Op. 18 [FWV.30]

5. Camille Saint-Saëns Duos Op. 8 : VI. Capriccio

6. Alexandre Guilmant Prière in F Op. 16

7. Camille Saint-Saëns Duos Op. 8 : III. Choral

8. Alexandre Guilmant Finale alla Schumann, Op. 83 - on a Languedoc Carol

Camille Saint-Saëns
9. Duos Op. 8 : II. Cavatina
10. Duos Op. 8 : I. Fantasia e fuga

11. Alexandre Guilmant Élégie Fugue Op. 44

12. Camille Saint-Saëns Duos Op. 8 : VI. Final

Electronic press kit available for reviewers.

Click to set custom HTML

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SCHUMANN FIRST MASTERWORKS PLAYED BY VLADIMIR FELTSMAN RELEASING BY NIMBUS ALLIANCE ON 6 JANUARY 2023

2/12/2022

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Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music

Nimbus Alliance releases a new album of Schumann piano music on 6 January 2023 (NI 6433), including rarely recorded early works, performed by internationally renowned Pianist and Conductor Vladimir Feltsman.

Variations on the name “Abegg” Op. 1 was written by the 20-year-old Schumann in 1830 and dedicated to the fictitious “Countess Pauline von Abegg”, whose last name provided Schumann with the theme for his variations – A, B-flat, E, and double G. Abegg Variations is a delightful, unpretentious, and elegant work free of the care, tension, and unresolvable conflicts that would haunt Schumann for the rest of his creative and personal life.

Papillons (Butterflies) comprises eleven seemingly unrelated parts and a grand finale that brings back the main tune (a waltz) of the opening piece, creating an arch that binds the set together. Like a phantasmagorical theatrical vision, the parts follow each other in a rapid succession, each having its own special character, texture, purpose, and expressiveness.

Davids bündlertänze (“Dances of the League of David”) Op. 6 was written in 1836. It includes 18 pieces grouped in two volumes of 9 pieces each. One of the most complex and sophisticated of Schumann’s works, it vividly articulates his essential creative principles, imagination, and unique approach to composing. It is a real artistic manifesto, a self-portrait of the artist.

Carnaval (Carnival), Op. 9 was written during 1834-35. Its twenty-one short pieces represent masked revellers during Carnival, the festive season that precedes the austerities of Lent. The music is filled with cryptograms, riddles, humour and misdirection, as if he was teasing the future ‘readers’ of his works, challenging them to figure out what is really going on and why; as he wrote, ‘deciphering my masked ball will be a real game for you’.

Arabeske (Arabesque) is a subtle, intimate and unpretentious work, beautifully crafted. The main episode is presented three times without any alteration. The two middle episodes are contrasting in character, and the conclusion is dreamy and hushed. Blumenstück has five thematic episodes (five petals), the second of which is presented three times, making it an eight-petalled flower. The form is unique and not easy to define—it just is a flower (‘A rose is a rose...’).

Nachtstücke Op. 23 (“Night Pieces”) was written in 1839 and published a year later. The title Nachtstücke suggested the distinction between the vocalized romantic idioms associated with night music such as the nocturnes of Field and Chopin and Schumann’s much darker visions.

Electronic press kit available for review use.

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TAMAYO IKEDA: SCHUBERT LIEDER ARRANGED BY LISZT AND IMPROMPTUS, RELEASED ON 14 OCTOBER 2022

24/8/2022

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Japanese pianist Tamayo Ikeda released her album of Schubert Lieder in their virtuosic solo arragements by Franz Liszt, alongside Schubert's Impromptus D. 899, on 14 October 2022.

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Album Details

1. Ständchen, S. 560/7: Schwanengesang No. 4
2. Der Lindenbaum, S. 561/7: Winterreise No. 5
3. Wasserflut, S. 561/6: Winterreise No. 6
4. Wohin? Müllerlieder von Franz Schubert, S.565/5: Die schöne Müllerin, No. 2
5. Die Müller und der Bach, Müllerlieder von Franz Schubert, S.565/2: Die schöne Müllerin, No. 19
6. Ave Maria: 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, No. 12, S. 558/12

7. Impromptu No. 1, Op. 90 in C Minor, D. 899: Allegro molto moderato
8. Impromptu No. 2 Op. 90 in E-flat Major, D. 899: Allegro
9. Impromptu No. 3 Op. 90 in G-flat Major, D. 899: Andante
10. Impromptu No. 4 Op. 90 in A-flat Major, D. 899: Allegretto

11. Auf dem Wasser zu Singen: 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558/2
12. Der Erlkönig: 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558/4
13. Meeres Stille: 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558/5
14. Die Forelle: 6 Melodien von Franz Schubert, S. 563/6

All tracks arranged for solo piano by Franz Liszt except Nos. 7-10.

Tamayo Ikeda was born in Japan in 1971, and began playing piano aged three. She joined the Toho Gakuen institute 1986 and to completed her studies in France at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris, where she studied with Jacques Rouvier and chamber music with Régis Pasquier. She was awarded two first prizes before joining the class of Pascal Devoyon.

Tamayo Ikeda is the beneficiary of a grant from the APEF and the Société Générale Bank, and has received valuable advice from leading artists such as Dimitri Bashkirov, Halina Czerny-Stefanska, Léon Fleisher and Maria Joao Pirès. She won Second Prize and the special Claude Debussy Award at the Yvonne Lefébure International competition (no first prize awarded), a special prize at the Porto International Ccompetition, and both First Prize and Casadesus Prize at the Francis Poulenc International Competition.

Tamayo Ikeda has appeared at major European festivals, in South Africa, Russia, Indonesia, at New York's Carnegie Hall, and has performed on numerous television and radio programmes. Her discography includes works by Poulenc and Fauré (Arcobaleno), an album of Stockhausen Sonatas with clarinettist Jean-Philippe Vivier (Solstice), a previous Schubert album (Warner-Lontano) and, with violinist Gêrard Poulet, works by Stravinsky and Prokofiev.

'While there are countless recordings of Schubert's piano music available, a more perfect realization would be hard to imagine than Tamayo Ikeda's. On this stellar presentation of 4 Impromptus, op. 90 (D. 899) and Lieder transcriptions by Franz Liszt, the pianist, born in Japan in 1971, demonstrates a deep grasp of the composer's material. Every piece is executed with the utmost attention to tempo, pacing, and dynamics, and her treatments are distinguished throughout by nuance, tenderness, and delicacy of touch. His is a language with which she is clearly fluent.'

Textura, January 2023

'This beautiful recording by Tamayo Ikeda.'

Maureen Buja
Interlude (Hong Kong), 21 October 2023

The Record Geijutsu, February 2023

CD on sale via Ongaku No Tomo, Japan or King International

Electronic press kit available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts.

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ULYSSES ARTS RELEASES SPINA AND BENIGNETTI PIANO DUO ALBUM: SCHUBERT FANTASIA, VARIATIONS AND TROUT QUINTET: 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

21/7/2022

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Released on 30 September. Click above to pre-order on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Ulysses Arts releases a new album of piano duet music by Schubert, played by the Spina - Benignetti Duo - Eleonora Spina and Michele Benignetti - on 30 September 2022 (UA220030). The album includes The Trout Quintet in Hugo Ulrich's version, Fantasia in F Minor, D.940, and Eight Variations in A-flat, D.813. The Fantasia is pre-released as an EP on 26 August 2022.

Laureates of numerous international music competition, the Duo performs regularly throughout worldwide. Highlights include recitals for live shows ‘Génération Jeunes Interprètes’ and ‘Génération France Musique - le Live’ at the Auditorium of the Maison de la Radio in Paris, broadcasts for France Musique national radio, recitals for the ‘Jeunes Talents’ concert series in Paris and at the Osaka Izumi Hall in Japan, a South African tour including the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival, and their Mexico debut at the CENART Blas Galindo Auditorium in Mexico City and at Teatro de la Ciudad in Celaya. Their last tour in South Africa saw them playing to full venues in Johannesburg, Grahamstown, Hermanus, Potchefstroom, Pretoria, and several other cities. To quote the Potchefstroom Herald, 'their two pianos recital will be long-remembered'.

In 2019, Eleonora and Michele performed in Australia, with recitals in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Bateman’s Bay. In New Zealand, they performed at the Turner Center Kerikeri, Globe Theater Palmerston North, Wanganui Royal Opera House, and in Wellington, in China at the Guangzhou Opera House, Tianjin Grand Theatre, Shandong Grand Theatre, Nankai University, La Plantation Beijing, and Dalian Grand Theatere.

Eleonora and Michele both are both at the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse in Soissons, France. The are regular invitees to give masterclasses in Italy, China, at the Colombes Summer International Academy in Paris, at the Summer Music Academy of Flaine (France), at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music in Melbourne and at Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

The Spina - Benignetti Piano Duo are Official Yamaha Artists and have been sponsored by them since 2017.

'Characterized by continuous flow and melodic lyricism, qualities the virtuosic duo capture in their sterling interpretation.' Textura, April 2023

Fantasia in F minor on Spotify's Classical New Releases playlist.

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NIMBUS RELEASES RACHMANINOFF SYMPHONY NO. 2 FOR TWO PIANOS WITH SIMON CALLAGHAN AND HIROAKI TAKENOUCHI ON 4 NOVEMBER 2022

8/7/2022

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4 November 2022
NI8110                      Rachmaninoff Symphony No.2 Op. 27 for Two Pianos
                                    Simon Callaghan and Hiroaki Takenouchi, pianos

'There is a tradition of composers arranging their own music for two pianos (Rachmaninoff did a lot), however he seems not to have arranged this particular Symphony Op.27 for two pianos! As it’s such great music, we decided to do it ourselves.' Hiro Takenouchi and Simon Callaghan

Nimbus Publishing

Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 Op. 27 for Two Pianos 2 x Scores
                             Third Movement from Symphony No. 2 Op. 27 for Two Pianos 2 x Scores

Read Robert Hugill's review of Simon Callaghan and Hiroaki Takenouchi's live performance of Rachmaninov Symphony No .2 at St John's Smith Square, London

Maureen Buja, Interlude, 18 Oct 2022

Daniel Jaffé, BBC Music Magazine, 24 Jan 2023

Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk, 29 April 2023

Click here to download Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 for Two Pianos from iTunes,
or stream from Apple Music

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NIMBUS RELEASES BRAHMS PIANO VARIATIONS DOUBLE ALBUM BY VLADIMIR FELTSMAN, 7 JULY 2023 (NI.6435)

31/5/2022

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Vladimir Feltsman

Vladimir Feltsman, born in 1952, is a Russian-American pianist of Lithuanian Jewish descent, noted for his devotion to the music of J.S. Bach. His father, composer Oscar Feltsman, was known in the former Soviet Union for popular songs and musical comedies. Feltsman first performed with the Moscow Philharmonic aged eleven and studied at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky and the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatories. In 1971, he won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris, followed by tours in the Soviet Union, Europe and Japan.

In 1979, out of growing discontent with the Soviet Union's oppressive dictatorship and rigid governmental control of the arts, Feltsman applied for an exit visa. He was banned from performing in public immediately. It was only after eight years of struggle and artistic exile that he was granted permission to leave. Arriving in the United States in August 1987, Feltsman was greeted warmly at the White House: one month later, he performed his first concert in North America for President Ronald Reagan. On 11 November 1987, Feltsman's Carnegie Hall début established him as a major pianist in America. During his early years in the West, he was promoted as a Russian Romantic firebrand, yet his début recital consisted of works by Schubert, Schumann and Messiaen. By the mid-1990s, he devoted himself to Bach, offering expressively shaped and thoughtfully ornamented performances on modern piano. Then he returned to the standard repertory, including Haydn, Beethoven, Mussorgsky, in the big-toned, blockbuster-style that many had anticipated when he first arrived in the USA. He remains a master of reinventing himself.

'Quite simply an amazing pianist!' The New York Times

'One of the supreme Bach keyboard exponents of our time!' Chicago Tribune

ULYSSES ARTS RELEASES FIVE NEW ALBUMS IN AUTUMN 2023, ALL INCLUDING WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS

NIMBUS MUSIC PUBLISHING RELEASES NEW PERFORMING EDITION OF J.S. BACH'S THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER ON 6 OCTOBER 2023

Lyrita releases British Piano Concertos Volume 2 with Simon Callaghan and BBC National Orchestra of Wales on 1 September 2023

YURI PATERSON-OLENICH - SCRIABIN, PIANO SONATA NO. 8 RELEASED BY ULYSSES ARTS ON 30 JUNE 2023

HAHN, KŒCHLIN, TAILLEFERRE PIANO DUOS WITH ADRIAN FARMER AND MARTIN JONES RELEASED ON 7 JULY 2023

PAUL HENLEY PIANO WORKS ALBUM WITH DUNCAN HONEYBOURNE RELEASING ON 22 SEPTEMBER 2023

Piano Music of Francisco Mignone - Martin Jones, on Nimbus Records, releasing 5 May 2023

Lyrita Releases Malcolm Lipkin Piano Music Album, performed by Nathan Williamson, on 7 April 2023

Viriginia Black, Beethoven Piano Sonatas: Power, Passion and Ecstasy: CRD Records, 7 April 2023

Camille Saint-Saëns, Volume 4 - Duos for Harmonium and Piano - Miloš Milivojević, classical accordion and Simon Callaghan, piano, released by Nimbus Records on 3 February 2023

SCHUMANN FIRST MASTERWORKS PLAYED BY VLADIMIR FELTSMAN RELEASING BY NIMBUS ALLIANCE ON 6 JANUARY 2023

TAMAYO IKEDA: SCHUBERT LIEDER ARRANGED BY LISZT AND IMPROMPTUS, RELEASED ON 14 OCTOBER 2022

ULYSSES ARTS RELEASES SPINA AND BENIGNETTI PIANO DUO ALBUM: SCHUBERT FANTASIA, VARIATIONS AND TROUT QUINTET: 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

NIMBUS RELEASES RACHMANINOFF SYMPHONY NO. 2 FOR TWO PIANOS WITH SIMON CALLAGHAN AND HIROAKI TAKENOUCHI ON 4 NOVEMBER 2022

NIMBUS RELEASES BRAHMS PIANO VARIATIONS DOUBLE ALBUM BY VLADIMIR FELTSMAN, 7 JULY 2023 (NI.6435)

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