Piano Concerto No. 1 / Nutcracker Suite by Alexandra Dariescu

Alexandra Dariescu

Piano Concerto No. 1 / Nutcracker Suite

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212044124
Catnr: SIGCD 441
Release date: 02 December 2016
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Label
Signum Classics

UPC
0635212044124

Catalogue number
SIGCD 441

Release date
02 December 2016

"Alexandra Dariescu and Darrell Ang’s account of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto is vital and incisive. The pianist’s playing is extremely clear, fine and sharp and her subtle phrasing impresses also in Pletnev’s arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite."

Pizzicato, 12-1-2017

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

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About the album

Alexandra Dariescu makes her concerto debut with Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Alexandra Dariescu has garnered an impressive reputation for her outstanding solo recordings and concert performances and was recently named as one of 30 pianists under 30 destined for a spectacular career in the International Piano Magazine.

Het eerste concertalbum van een voortreffelijke pianiste
“Ongeveer twintig jaar geleden keek ik naar mijn eerste concert op tv – het was Tsjaikovski’s Eerste Pianoconcert uitgevoerd door Emil Gilels uit 1959. Het raakte me: de kracht, de energie, de schaal van dit werk! Ik besloot dat ik het wilde spelen, maar het duurde een tijd voordat ik er klaar voor was. Een paar jaar later (…) voelde ik dat het tijd was om het werk te benaderen. Na een aantal maanden oefenen begon ik het op concerten uit te voeren. (…) Toen ik de mogelijkheid kreeg om mijn eerste concertalbum op te nemen, wist ik dat het dit concert moest worden.” - Alexandra Dariescu

Alexandra Dariescu heeft een indrukwekkende reputatie vergaard door haar uitstekende solo-opnamen en concertuitvoeringen, en werd door International Piano Magazine genoemd als een van de 30 pianisten onder de 30 voor wie een spectaculaire carrière is voorbestemd.

Ze maakt haar concertalbumdebuut met Tsjaikovski’s Eerste Pianoconcert, met medewerking van het Royal Philharmonic Orchestra onder leiding van Darrell Ang. Het concert wordt gekoppeld aan Mikhail Pletnevs concertsuite van delen uit De Notenkraker.

Artist(s)

Alexandra Dariescu (piano)

Romanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu, recently named as ‘one of 30 pianists under 30 destined for a spectacular career’ (International Piano Magazine), dazzles audiences worldwide with her effortless musicality and captivating stage presence. From recent appearances in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw to the Royal Albert Hall, Dariescu’s 2017/18 season marks more important milestones including debuts both at Vienna’s prestigious Musikverein, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Dinu Lipatti with two concertos (Lipatti & Grieg) performed together with the Transylvania Philharmonic conducted by Gabriel Bebeselea and her Vienna Staatsoper debut in recital with Angela Gheorghiu. Alexandra Dariescu makes her US concerto debuts with the Utah Symphony and Kazuki Yamada as well as her Canadian debut with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Marzena Diakun and Orchestre Symphonique de...

From recent appearances in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw to the Royal Albert Hall, Dariescu’s 2017/18 season marks more important milestones including debuts both at Vienna’s prestigious Musikverein, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Dinu Lipatti with two concertos (Lipatti & Grieg) performed together with the Transylvania Philharmonic conducted by Gabriel Bebeselea and her Vienna Staatsoper debut in recital with Angela Gheorghiu. Alexandra Dariescu makes her US concerto debuts with the Utah Symphony and Kazuki Yamada as well as her Canadian debut with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Marzena Diakun and Orchestre Symphonique de Québec with Fabien Gabel. Alexandra also performs Lipatti and Grieg with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Cristian Mandeal in London’s Cadogan Hall and will be soloist with the Brighton Philharmonic and Barry Wordsworth as well as Bath Philharmonia and Jason Thornton. Following her return to the Enescu Festival for a duo recital, Alexandra will be resident at the Iserlohner Herbsttage für Musik in Germany performing a recital, concertos by Haydn and Rachmaninov and giving a three-day masterclass.

The premiere of Dariescu’s own production, The Nutcracker and I, by Alexandra Dariescu – a ground-breaking multimedia performance created for piano solo with dance and digital animation – will take place at Barbican’s Milton Court, followed by performances at Moscow’s International House of Music, the Stavanger International Chamber Music Festival and multiple tours to China.

This season will see Alexandra complete her trilogy recording of Messiaen and Faure preludes which compliments the previously released CDs of Chopin/Dutilleux and Shostakovich/ Szymanowski preludes (Champs Hill Records). The 2016 release of Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto No. 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Mikhail Pletnev’s concert suite of arrangements from The Nutcracker (Signum Records) received high praise. Another recording features Emily Howard’s ‘Mesmerism’ for piano and orchestra with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was released on NMC Records.

Always curious to continue learning, Alexandra receives advice and guidance from Sir András Schiff. She has been mentored by Imogen Cooper through the Royal Philharmonic Society/YCAT Philip Langridge Mentoring Scheme. A former artist of Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) she was a Laureate at the Verbier Festival Academy. In 2013 Alexandra received the UK’s Women of the Future Award in the Arts and Culture category. She became the youngest musician to receive the Custodian of the Romanian Crown Medal and in 2017 was presented with the Radio Romania’s Cultural Award. In 2017 Alexandra was appointed patron of Music in Lyddington. A former graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, as well as the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Alexandra was appointed an Honorary Associate Artist of the Royal Northern College of Music in 2016.

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Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Darrell Ang (conductor)

Composer(s)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky is considered as one of the most talented Russian composers of the 19th century. Unlike many other Russian composers of his time, he studied at a conservatory and made the western music theory his own. So, he was not as distrustful of western music as the group of nationalistic composers surrounding Balakirev. Yet, Tchaikovsky sought to express the typical Russian mentality just as much and used many Russian folk songs in his music. He had a good relationship with Balakirev, who helped him with constructive feedback on his first masterpiece, the overture of Romeo and Juliet. At times, Tchaikovsky was emotionally unstable, which has often been attributed to struggles with his homosexuality. His decision to marry proved to be disastrous and plunged him into a deep crisis. Yet, the passionate letters of his fiance, even though they barely knew each other, did inspire him to compose his succesful opera Evgenij Onegin. Tchaikovsky had the wonderful gift of composing the most beautiful, lyric melodies. He had a feeling for creating a certain atmosphere in his music and mastered the art of orchestration. Moreover, he excelled in dance music, which made him the ideal composer for ballet. With his ballets The Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker he brought the genre to a higher level. During his life, he was already a celebrity. He often did tours to conduct his music and in the USA he was welcomed as a star. He died unexpectedly, nine days after the premiere of his incredibly gloomy Sixth Symphony, probably of cholera. Some other highlights of his body of works are his First Piano Concerto, his Violin Concerto and the Rococo-variations.

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Press

Alexandra Dariescu and Darrell Ang’s account of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto is vital and incisive. The pianist’s playing is extremely clear, fine and sharp and her subtle phrasing impresses also in Pletnev’s arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite.
Pizzicato, 12-1-2017