NEW ON NAXOS | MAY 2023
György LIGETI (1923–2006) Études • Capriccios Han Chen, Piano
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GYÖRGY LIGETI 100 YEARS
György Ligeti’s Études redefined the piano’s tonal possibilities and are considered one of his major creative achievements, as well as being one of the most significant sets of piano studies of the 20th century. They inevitably draw on influences from the past such as Chopin and Debussy, but avoid any sense of eclecticism. Ligeti’s often spectacularly virtuoso use of complex rhythms and geometric patterns proceeds from simple core ideas to create music that is ‘neither “avant-garde” nor “traditional”, neither tonal nor atonal’, and always backed by that glint of humour in the composer’s eye. Key Feature: Praised by Gramophone and The New York Times , pianist Han Chen released his debut album, Liszt Complete Piano Music, Volume 41 on Naxos (8.573415), which garnered international acclaim and comment such as from ClassicsToday.com reviewer Jed Distler: ‘It isn’t just Chen’s assured, elegant and totally effortless technique that blows me away, it’s also his idiomatic flair, his use of colour and touch to convey character, plus a gift for textural variety and differentiation that one associates with golden age legends.’
8.574397 Release Date: 26 May 2023
Companion Titles – Han Chen, Piano 8.574109 | 8.573415 | 8.573989
Click to listen to Études, Book 1: No. 1. Désordre
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WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Imre SZÉCHÉNYI (1825–1898) Dances for Piano Serenade in A minor György Lázár, István Kassai, Pianos
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Imre Széchényi was a distinguished diplomat who rose to become the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Berlin, retaining the friendship and admiration of a gallery of leading figures of the age: Liszt, Johann Strauss II, Suppé, Waldteufel, Bismarck, and many others. He was also a pianist and composer, and his diplomatic career ran parallel to his musical life. Széchényi’s métier was the dance, and his series of polkas, mazurkas and serenades – infectiously engaging and ardently lyrical – were popular pieces in their day but are now little known. orchestrations of many of these dances were made by the composer (Naxos 8.573807) but five that were never scored for orchestra are included here. Key Features: • Széchényi’s Waltzes and Hungarian Marches are on 8.574307, performed by the same two pianists as on this latest album: ‘this effort of Kassai and György Lázár proves especially fruitful and gratifying, given that their chosen instrument, a 1908 Bechstein-Flügel in pristine condition with its original strings, owned by Richard Wagner’s grandson Wolfgang, produces a sound authentic to the period’ ( Fanfare ). • István Kassai has won many prizes including the Artisjus Prize (1976), Chevillion-Bonnaud Prize of the Fondation de France (1986), Hungarian Radio Nívó Prize (1990), ‘Ferenc Liszt’ Prize (2001) and the Leó Weiner Memorial Prize (2010).
8.574506 Release Date: 26 May 2023 Companion Titles – Imre Széchényi, Composer 8.573807 | 8.574307
István Kassai, Piano 8.574424-25 | GP786
Click to listen to Wiesbaden-Polka
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INCLUDES WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Korean Tapestry Korean Art Songs by Leading Korean Women Composers Kyoung Cho, Soprano • Won Cho, Bass Eun-Hee Park, Piano
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A love for vocal music has maintained its presence throughout Korea’s turbulent history, and Ga-Gok or ‘Art Song’ has long offered opportunities to convey personal sentiments and messages through lyrical settings of the nation’s poetry. Today’s often deeply expressive Korean art songs uniquely combine traditional Korean/ Asian musical elements within the structure of Western music. They feature the finest examples of solo and duet songs by leading Korean female composers, thus providing new insights into Korean society and its modern musical culture. Key Feature:
Internationally acclaimed and award-winning Korean Soprano Kyoung Cho is a Professor of Voice and the Coordinator of the Voice Area in USF’s School of Music where she has taught since 2007. Dr Won Cho has taken numerous leading operatic roles, and her versatility, alongside Korean music, includes oratorio and contemporary composers’ art songs.
8.579129 Release Date: 26 May 2023
Kyoung and Won Cho
Companion Titles – Other Naxos releases featuring Korean composers 8.572406 | 8.570599 | 8.557938
Click to listen to IM, Kyungshin: You, My Courage
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