Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr Vol. 34 / Live Recordings 2015 by Henri Sigfridsson & others

Jean Sibelius, Edvard Grieg, Alexander Scriabin

Henri Sigfridsson & others

Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr Vol. 34 / Live Recordings 2015

Price: € 43.95
Format: CD
Label: CAvi
UPC: 4260085534517
Catnr: AVI 8553451
Release date: 04 March 2016
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Label
CAvi

UPC
4260085534517

Catalogue number
AVI 8553451

Release date
04 March 2016

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

NORDIC and…..
In 2015 we devoted a great number of Festival recital programmes to our focus on two composer anniversaries in particular: Jean Sibelius (Finland) and Alexander Scriabin (Russia). To complete our survey of “the Nordic tone”, Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg could not be left out, of course! Our annual CD of performance highlights from 2015 reflects that choice of repertoire, with the title “Sibelius, Grieg and Scriabin”.
CD No. 1 is devoted entirely to the piano music of Jean Sibelius. Finnish pianist Henri Sigfridsson interprets the Six Impromptus, op. 5 and the Five Pieces, op. 75: an “arborescent suite” that reflects Sibelius’s profound connection with nature by portraying different species of trees. Rudi Spring, a proven connoisseur of Sibelius’s piano music, then proposes a selection of brief piano miniatures, followed by Andrey Gugnin, the winner of the Gina Bachauer Competition in 2014. With Gugnin’s rendition of the Five Piano Pieces, op. 85 – a “flower suite” – we return to the subject matter of Op. 75 featured at the beginning of this CD: nature.Ya-Fei Chuang and Robert Levin have been faithful to the Festival for many years. Thanks to their immense command of repertoire, they are often featured in our set of annual CD’s.
On the second one in this boxed set, devoted to works by Edvard Grieg, the duo plays the Norwegian Dances for Piano Four Hands, op. 35, clearly inspired by the “Nordic tone” of Grieg’s home country. Pianist Benjamin Moser has also been featured in previous boxed sets of the Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr. On this occasion, he performs a selection of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, “an intimate slice of life”, as Grieg called them. Joachim Carr, on the other hand, is featured in our recording series for the first time. He also presents a selection of Lyric Pieces, along with the only piano sonata Grieg ever wrote – at the young age of twenty-two. The third CD in our annual boxed set for 2015 is exclusively devoted to the piano output of Alexander Scriabin. He wrote his Three Pieces, op. 45 in 1904, a time in his life when he was devoting greater interest to literary and philosophical ideas. These are contrasted with the Five Preludes, op. 74, the last work he completed: in 1914, just a few months before
dying suddenly and unexpectedly from septicaemia. Both works are featured here in renditions by young Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin. Scriabin attempted to renew and further develop the sonata genre: already in his first four piano sonatas, the movements have very close thematic connections, as in Sonata No. 3 in F Sharp Minor, op. 23, performed here by Chi Ho Han, and Sonata No. 4 in F Sharp Major, op. 30, performed by Pavel Kolesnikov. A laureate of the renowned Canadian Honens competition, Kolesnikov is also present on this CD with Scriabin’s Poème “Vers la flamme” in E Major, op. 72. The Russian composer also composed Etudes throughout his entire life: thus, on this CD, we feature Scriabin’s Etudes in D Sharp (op. 8/12), C Sharp Minor (op. 2/1) and G Sharp Minor (op. 8/9), in renditions by Benjamin Moser and Dudana Mazmanishvili. Moser also plays one of Scriabin’s most impressive piano pieces, the Fantaisie in B Minor, op. 28.

Artist(s)

Henri Sigfridsson (piano)

Born in 1974, Henri Sigfridsson has made himself a name as a performer at many outstanding European concert venues. At the Beethoven Competition in Bonn in 2005 he was awarded First Prize, the Audience Prize and the Chamber Music Prize. For many years already, the Finnish pianist has been invited to perform at a number of international music events such as the two Salzburg Festivals, Styriarte in Graz (Austria), the Lucerne Festival, the Kissingen Summer Festival and Lockenhaus Festival. Last not least, he gave his début performance at the Ruhr Piano Festival in 2006. As a soloist in piano concertos, Sigfridsson has collaborated with many renowned orchestras; meanwhile, in chamber music, he has shared the podium with violinists Gidon Kremer, Ivry Gitlis, Leonidas Kavakos and Patricia Kopachinskaya, as well as with cellists Mischa Maisky, Sol Gabetta and Johannes Moser. Henri Sigfridsson first studied at the Turku Conservatory and in Erik T. Tawaststjerna’s class at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. In 1995 he joined Pavel Gililov’s class at Cologne Musikhochschule. In April 2011, Sigfridsson was appointed piano professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen.

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Ya-Fei Chuang (piano)

Ya-Fei Chuang made her first television appearance in her native Taiwan at the age of eight. The bursary of scholarships from several prestigious foundations, Ms. Chang moved to Germany to study at the conservatories of Freiburg and Cologne. In Cologne she won the conservatory’s International Piano Competition when she was eighteen. Later she relocated in the US and concluded her studies at New England Conservatory in Boston. Ya-Fei Chuang now gives masterclasses in the US, Europe and Asia – for instance at Tanglewood Music Festival and at the Salzburg Mozarteum International Summer Academy. She has performed at all the major festivals and concertizes with the most renowned orchestras worldwide. A great number of CD recordings demonstrate her virtuosity, paired with a particularly intense variety of musical expression. For instance, Vol. 23 of the Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr features Ms. Chuang’s recordings of two Mendelssohn piano concertos with Robert Levin and the Bochum Symphony. Ya-Fei Chuang appears in chamber music recitals with cellist Steven Isserlis, violist Kim Kashkashian and pianist Robert Levin. After having given her Ruhr Piano Festival début performance in 2007, she returned here for her 8th appearance in 2015.

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Robert Levin (piano)

Robert Levin studied with Stefan Wolpe in New York and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Upon graduation he was invited by Rudolf Serkin to head the theory department of the Curtis Institute of Music; Levin was also Resident Director of the Conservatoire Américain in Fontainebleau from 1979 to 1986 before taking up a professorship in the piano department of Freiburg Musikhochschule. He is President of the Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, and currently Dwight P. Robinson, Jr. Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. As a result of intense study of the original sources, Levin has published scholarly and musically well-informed completions of a number of works left unfinished by Mozart: for instance, the Requiem and the Mass in C Minor. He has performed worldwide and has made a number of recordings, including complete cycles of the Mozart and Beethoven piano concertos. Robert Levin is one of those rare double musical talents who are truly capable of combining theory and practice. More than just a piano-playing musicologist or a theorizing instrumentalist, Levin invariably merges virtuoso aplomb with well-informed scholarship in performances that captivate audiences far and wide. That has also clearly been the case in the great number of concerts, recitals and lectures Levin has given at the Ruhr Piano Festival ever since his first appearance here in 2006.

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Pavel Kolesnikov (piano)

Born in Siberia in 1989, Pavel Kolesnikov currently calls London his home. He studied at Moscow State Conservatory with Sergey Dorensky, at the London Royal College of Music with Norma Fisher and with Maria João Pires at Brussels’ Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel, with support from scholarships granted by the Royal College and the Hattori Foundation. In autumn of 2014, Kolesnikov was named one of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists for 2014 – 2016. Ever since he was awarded 1st Prize in 2012 at the Honens International Piano Competition in Canada, Kolesnikov has been conquering the hearts of music-loving audiences far and wide. The Honens prize has paved the way for a great number of recitals and guest festival appearances at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Louvre Auditorium, Vancouver Recital Society, La Jolla Music Society, Spoleto Festival (Charleston, NC) and Ottawa Chamber Music Festival. He has also performed with the Russian National Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonia Orchestra and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 2015 marked Kolesnikov’s début appearance at the Ruhr Piano Festival.

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Joachim Carr (piano)

Born in 1988 in Edvard Grieg’s home town of Bergen in Norway, Joachim Carr studied with the renowned Czech professor Jiri Hlinka at Barratt Dues Institute of Music in Oslo. He is currently perfecting his outstanding capabilities under the tutelage of Eldar Nebolsin at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. He has further expanded his excellent training horizons by actively participating in masterclasses given by the likes of Leif Ove Andsnes, Menahem Pressler and Christopher Elton. Thanks to several outstanding prizes, Carr attracted the attention of the international piano scene: in Vevey, Switzerland, he was awarded the young music critics’ Coup de Coeur Prize in 2013; then, in 2014, he won the renowned International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition...

Born in 1988 in Edvard Grieg’s home town of Bergen in Norway, Joachim Carr studied with the renowned Czech professor Jiri Hlinka at Barratt Dues Institute of Music in Oslo. He is currently perfecting his outstanding capabilities under the tutelage of Eldar Nebolsin at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. He has further expanded his excellent training horizons by actively participating in masterclasses given by the likes of Leif Ove Andsnes, Menahem Pressler and Christopher Elton. Thanks to several outstanding prizes, Carr attracted the attention of the international piano scene: in Vevey, Switzerland, he was awarded the young music critics’ Coup de Coeur Prize in 2013; then, in 2014, he won the renowned International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition in Bergen. He has concertized as a soloist and chamber musician in well-known venues such as Wigmore Hall, Konserthus in Oslo and the Berlin Philharmonie. 2014 marked Carr’s first guest appearance.

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Benjamin Moser (piano)

Pianist Benjamin Moser gave his début performance at the Ruhr Piano Festival in 2011, and is now performing here for the sixth time in 2018. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich under the guidance of Michael Schäfer, and at Berlin University of the Arts with Klaus Hellwig. Benjamin Moser attracted international attention in June 2007 as a prizewinner in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, where he was awarded the prize for the best interpretation of Tchaikovsky, as well as the Audience Prize. In January of that year he also won First Prize in the International Young Concert Artists Audition in New York, which gave rise to a number of recital performances in Paris, Washington...

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Andrey Gugnin (piano)

Born in 1987, Andrey Gugnin has been involved in music since the age of seven. He studied with Professor Vera Gornostaeva at Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 2010. The young Russian pianist has already impressed juries and audiences at a great number of international competitions, including the International “Cittá di Cantù” Piano Competition, where he won 1st Prize in 2009. Then, in 2014, Gugnin won the Gold Medal and the Audience Prize at the renowned International Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in Salt Lake City. In 2007 Gugnin made his début CD recording, featuring both Shostakovich piano concertos. By now he has already gained a great deal of experience as a concert pianist, with performances in significant concert halls in more than...

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Rudi Spring (piano)

Rudi Spring was born in Lindau at Lake Constance in 1962. Composer and Professor Alfred Kuppelmayer gave him his first lessons in music theory, piano and composition, an influence which proved decisive in Spring’s further development as an artist. In 1978 he went on to study organ and piano in Bregenz (Austria), where his particularly sensitive talent as a duo partner became rapidly evident. Cellist Heinrich Schiff soon took notice of him as well: they shared the stage a number of times, and in the early 1980s Spring wrote a number of chamber and orchestra works featuring solo cello. By that time he was already studying composition and piano at Munich Musikhochschule, while serving as organist at the Protestant church in nearby Freising. Spring makes regular appearances as a pianist. In 1999 Rudi Spring was appointed to teach Lied interpretation at Munich Musikhochschule. In 2005, Spring resided as a fellow at the German Academy’s Villa Massimo in Rome. He guested at the Ruhr Piano Festival for the first time in 2008, collaborated on our Education Projects in 2009 with vocalist Salome Kammer, and appeared at the Festival for the third time in 2015.

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Chi Ho Han (piano)

Chi Ho Han, born in Seoul in 1992, gave his first public concert at the age of eleven. When he was sixteen he moved to Germany, where he studied in the class of Arnulf von Arnim at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. Since 2012 he has been a pupil of Arie Vardi at Hannover Musikhochschule. Chi Ho Han is the laureate of several important competitions: in 2009, the young Korean pianist won 3rd Prize at the Vienna Beethoven Competition, then 2nd Prizes at the Dortmund International Schubert Competition in 2011 and at the Beethoven Competition in Bonn respectively, and 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at the KlavierOlymp Piano Competition in Bad Kissingen in 2013. At the renowned ARD International Music Competition in 2014, the First Prize in the piano category was left vacant, but Chi Ho Han won the 2nd Prize along with the Audience Prize. Chi Ho Han has already made guest appearances at a number of music festivals and renowned international concert venues: in Seoul, Beijing, Dublin, Zurich and Vienna, for instance. In fact, he has once previously performed at the Ruhr Piano Festival – in 2011, as one of the young student talents selected to participate in our ExtraSchicht piano marathon.

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Dudana Mazmanishvili (piano)

Dudana Mazmanishvili, born 1980 in Tiflis, received at the age of 3 her first piano instruction from her mother, pianist Tamar Apakidze. Already at 8 years old she debuted with the Georgian National Orchestra. In 1998 Elisso Virsaladze brought Dudana Mazmanishvili to Munich. Since 2005 she is perfecting herself in New York with Jerome Rose. Dudana Mazmanishvili has immortalized herself at numerous international piano competitions as award winner in the winner lists: for example at the Busoni Competition in Bozen, Washington International Piano Competition, Nicolai Rubinstein Competition Paris, Nadia Reisenberg Award New York and August Everding Competition Munich. In 2006 Dudana Mazmanishvili debuted at Carnegie Hall. Harris Goldsmith celebrated her in his concert critic as the discovery of the year. In 'Musical...

Dudana Mazmanishvili, born 1980 in Tiflis, received at the age of 3 her first piano instruction from her mother, pianist Tamar Apakidze. Already at 8 years old she debuted with the Georgian National Orchestra. In 1998 Elisso Virsaladze brought Dudana Mazmanishvili to Munich. Since 2005 she is perfecting herself in New York with Jerome Rose.

Dudana Mazmanishvili has immortalized herself at numerous international piano competitions as award winner in the winner lists: for example at the Busoni Competition in Bozen, Washington International Piano Competition, Nicolai Rubinstein Competition Paris, Nadia Reisenberg Award New York and August Everding Competition Munich.

In 2006 Dudana Mazmanishvili debuted at Carnegie Hall. Harris Goldsmith celebrated her in his concert critic as the discovery of the year. In "Musical America" she was selected "Rising Star of the Year." Among the highlights in her career are performances in the Philips Collection Washington, Munich Residenz, Salle Cortot in Paris, Musikverein in Vienna and Konzerthaus Berlin.

In 2006 her debut CD with Oehms Classics appeared with works by Bach, Busoni, Liszt and Rachmaninow, which was selected by Radio Bayern 4 as CD of the Month. She is giving concerts mostly in Europe and the USA, where among others she was invited by the Chopin Society in Texas. 2015 she gave a recital at the famous German Klavierfestival Ruhr, which was broadcast by Deutschlandfunk. She also was an invitee at the International Music Festival Autumn Tbilisi. For her concerts and recordings she is playing a Bechstein D Grand.

Dudana Mazmanishvili is sharing her pianistic career with her mission as cultural attachée at the Georgian Embassy in Berlin, promoting the Georgian culture and awakening attention for a place with rich historic roots at the edge of Orient and Occident.

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Composer(s)

Edvard Grieg

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions put the music of Norway in the international spectrum, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius and Antonín Dvořák did in Finland and Bohemia, respectively. Grieg is regarded as simultaneously nationalistic and cosmopolitan in his orientation, for although born in Bergen and buried there, he travelled widely throughout Europe, and considered his music to express both the beauty of Norwegian rural life and the culture of Europe as a whole. He is...

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions put the music of Norway in the international spectrum, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius and Antonín Dvořák did in Finland and Bohemia, respectively.
Grieg is regarded as simultaneously nationalistic and cosmopolitan in his orientation, for although born in Bergen and buried there, he travelled widely throughout Europe, and considered his music to express both the beauty of Norwegian rural life and the culture of Europe as a whole. He is the most celebrated person from the city of Bergen, with numerous statues depicting his image, and many cultural entities named after him.

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Alexander Scriabin

Alexander Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist. He began playing the piano at the age of five, but received his first lessons only at the age of eleven. He could not play from sight, but studied the score and played the compositions by heart afterwards. He was also a gifted improviser.
During the rest of his live Scriabin made a living as a composer and concert pianist.He established contracts with publishers and also had a patron in his former student Margarita Morozova for some time. In addition, he annually won a money prize in the context of the Glinka-prize for new compositions that was set up by Beljajev.
Scriabin primarily wrote for solo piano and orchestra. His music progressively evolved over the course of his life, although the evolution was very rapid and especially brief when compared to most composers. His earliest piano pieces resemble those of Frédéric Chopin. The works from his middle and late period use very unusual harmonies and textures.
From 1904 till 1910 Scriabin lived in western Europe, primarily in Switzerland, but also in northern Italy, Paris and Brussels. After his return to Russia he found himself in the middle of a circle of admirers who were attracted to his exalted and mystic ideas. During the last years of his life he worked on a grandiose manifestation, a Gesamtkunstwerk, Mysterium, in which all arts and all people would have been united. He left only sketches of the prelude to this piece (L'action préalable) and large amounts of text.

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Jean Sibelius

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) was the composer who gave Finland its own sound, right when this nation was struggling to detach itself from Russia. Sibelius wrote several impressive symphonic poems - among which Finlandia, Lemminkäinen-suite, Oceaniden, Tapiola - for he took inspiration from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. He was just as original as a symphonist: his Seven Symphonies are just as much answers to the question how the genre should develop after Tchaikovsky's death.

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) was the composer who gave Finland its own sound, right when this nation was struggling to detach itself from Russia. Sibelius wrote several impressive symphonic poems - among which Finlandia, Lemminkäinen-suite, Oceaniden, Tapiola - for he took inspiration from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. He was just as original as a symphonist: his Seven Symphonies are just as much answers to the question how the genre should develop after Tchaikovsky's death.

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