Robert VOLKMANN (1815–1883) Romantic Piano, Vol. 8 Piano Sonata • 6 Fantasiebilder • 4 Marches Deutsche Tanzweisen • Lieder der Großmutter Levon Avagyan, Piano A native of Germany, Robert Volkmann was virtually unknown as a composer until the 1840s when he moved to Hungary. It was there that Volkmann achieved wider recognition due in part to Franz Liszt, Hans von Bülow and Richard Wagner expressing admiration for his Piano Trio, Op. 5 . Volkmann’s music straddles the radical and conservative camps in the music of his era, with the early Fantasiebilder influenced by Schumann and Mendelssohn, and the scintillating Piano Sonata in C minor retaining the Classical roots of Beethoven and Schubert. From the cimbalom effects in the Ungarische Lieder to the whimsy in Lieder der Großmutter, Volkmann’s expressive potency is always infused with a compulsive rhythmic verve. Key features: • The Naxos Romantic Piano series first appeared in September 2025 with works by Julius Benedict (8.574586), which was warmly welcomed by MusicWeb International : ‘we must above all be grateful to Naxos… for their enterprise in exploring an area of the repertoire that must be totally unknown to all but a very few experts in the period’. With numerous world premiere recordings, this series explores and promotes little-known composers and unusual repertoire. • Further volumes present rarely heard music by the likes of Charles Gounod, works by Friedrich Kiel, and piano sonatas by Józef Wieniawski. Vol. 2 of the series with sonatas by Wilhelm Taubert (8.574585) saw Interlude commenting that this recording is ‘a reminder of the breadth of 19th-century musical life, where many composers made meaningful contributions to the piano repertoire, even if they did not become household names’.
8.574674
Playing time: 74:57 Release date: 13 Mar 2026
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Click to listen to Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 12: IV. Allegro molto LISTEN Tracklist 1 – 6 6 Fantasiebilder, Op. 1 (1837) * 7 – 0 Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 12 (1853) ! – % Deutsche Tanzweisen, Op. 18 (1854) ** ^ Ungarische Lieder, Op. 20 (1855) & – ) 4 Marches, Op. 22 (1855) ** ¡ – ‹ Lieder der Großmutter, Op. 27 (1856) * * WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING ** WORLD PREMIERE COMPLETE RECORDING
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