COMPOSERS: Albéniz & Busoni,Chopin,Eiges,Godowsky,Medtner,Stanchinsky
LABELS: BMG Melodiya
ALBUM TITLE: Collection: Russian Piano School, Vol. 19
WORKS: Works by Godowsky, Chopin, Stanchinsky, Medtner, Eiges, Albéniz & Busoni
PERFORMER: Edvard Syomin (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 74321 33217 2 ADD mono/stereo 1990/95
Syomin’s is not a name familiar in the West, but he possesses a formidable technique and knows how to use it to spectacular effect. Here he plays Godowsky (flamboyant, virtuosic), Eiges (stormy, rhetorical), Stanchinsky (folksy, approachable) and the rest with consummate skill and sound judgement. This is an attractive programme, though Godowsky’s overripe arrangements of Rameau will fill the purist with dismay. The acoustics are resonant, but judicious microphone placing achieves both crystal clarity and the right degree of bloom.
Wadham Sutton