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Gifts for... Pianists and piano fans
We've selected some perfect presents for the pianist, or piano lover, in your life. From the best books about the instrument, its history, and its performers to beautiful sheet music editions - plus a selection of outstanding recent piano recordings from artists including Víkingur Ólafsson, Daniil Trifonov and Igor Levit, there's plenty to choose from. (You can find our other themed gift guides here.)
New and award-winning piano recordings
Following his ‘unique, distinct and extraordinary’ (Gramophone) album of Philip Glass last year, Gramophone’s Artist of the Year, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, turns to music which he describes as having ‘the potential to feel more or less as new today as it did 300 years ago’ with this collection of chorale preludes, excerpts from The Well-Tempered Clavier, and two- and three-part inventions.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Scottish pianist's previous Beethoven recordings have attracted praise for their ‘potency and lucidity’ (The Daily Telegraph), ‘rhythmically incisive brilliance’ (The Observer), and ‘exquisitely polished pianism’ (International Record Review); Gramophone declared these accounts of the late sonatas to be ‘certainly among his finest. A magnificent achievement’.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
It’s six years since the Russian-German pianist made his solo recording debut with astonishing accounts of the late sonatas, prompting BBC Music Magazine to observe that ‘revelatory experiences like this don’t come often in a lifetime’; in advance of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth next year, he completes the project with a set of recordings which he describes as ‘a conclusion of my past fifteen years’.
Available Formats: 9 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Busoni: Piano Concerto
Kirill Gerstein (piano), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Men of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Sakari Oramo
Lasting over an hour, Busoni’s five-movement Piano Concerto is a relative rarity in the concert-hall thanks to the logistical challenges which it poses; this project has been a labour of love for pianist Kirill Gerstein, who talked to Katherine about the piece, which he describes as ‘a Mahler-esque symphony, but with an Italianate flavour’.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The music of Chopin has always been close to Maurizio Pollini’s heart. His latest album (released in January this year) sees him revisiting three works he has recorded before: the Third Piano Sonata, the Berceuse, and the two Nocturnes, op. 55. He first recorded these works decades ago, and it is fascinating to hear the subtle changes in interpretation with these new performances. He also adds to his discography with his first recording of the Three Mazurkas, op. 56.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
For his fifth album on Deutsche Grammophon, the young Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki presents the two Mendelssohn concertos with shorter solo works which anticipate or echo their musical material: the Variations sérieuses Op. 54, the Rondo capriccioso Op. 14, and the Venetian Gondola Song from Songs without Words.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Destination Rachmaninov - Arrival
Daniil Trifonov (piano), Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
The first leg of the young Russian pianist’s Rachmaninov journey won the Concerto Category at this year’s BBC Music Magazine Awards, and was an Album of the Year for both The Guardian and The Times in 2018; this second stretch includes Trifonov’s own transcriptions of the Vocalise and The Silver Sleigh Bells from the large-scale choral work The Bells as well as Concertos Nos. 1 and 3.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Making an eloquent and engaging debut on Decca, Isata Kanneh-Mason is alive to the flashes of wit amid the wistful melancholy on this bicentenary tribute to the virtuoso pianist and composer Clara Schumann, featuring a warmly sympathetic account of the Piano Concerto which Clara completed and premiered at the tender age of sixteen with Mendelssohn conducting, the Three Romances dedicated to Joseph Joachim, and two transcriptions of songs by her husband Robert.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 & pieces for solo piano
Bertrand Chamayou (piano), Orchestre National de France, Emmanuel Krivine
As well as two of the concertos, Chamayou explores the composer’s little-known works for solo piano, including selections from the Etudes Opp. 52 and 111, and the Valse nonchalante, written just two years after the ‘Egyptian’ concerto. Winner of the coveted Recording of the Year prize at this year’s Gramophone Awards, they said ‘I would go as far as placing Chamayou and Krivine at or near the top of the myriad recordings [of Concerto No. 2] currently available’.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Nearly three decades after his acclaimed recordings of these works on a modern piano for Decca, the Hungarian-born pianist returns to the Piano Sonatas D958 and 959, the Impromptus D899, and the Drei Klavierstucke D946 on the Franz Brodmann fortepiano which he purchased in 2010, and has discovered a wealth of additional poetry and space in the music in the intervening years. The instrument’s three distinct registers and four pedals facilitate some wonderfully introspective playing in the slow movements in particular, and the clarity of articulation throughout is a marvel.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
For her third release on Warner Classics, the Italian pianist presents Ravel’s Miroirs and La valse alongside Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Petrushka; reviewing her recital at Queen Elizabeth Hall earlier this year, Classical Source observed that Miroirs showcases her ‘facility and filigree virtuosity…and limitless supply of nuance’ and described her account of The Firebird as ‘eye-popping’.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Following his touching exploration of Haydn in late middle-age in 2018, Paul Lewis radiates sympathy and imagination in two youthful sonatas written three years apart by composers who wouldn’t live to see their fortieth birthdays: Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B flat D575 (composed when he was just 20) and Carl Maria von Weber’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in A flat from 1814, shot through with operatic influences and anticipations of his later ‘Invitation to the Dance’.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
New Collections
This 15-disc collection includes previously unreleased recordings taken from a series of rehearsals and private recitals for close friends and family which Horowitz gave in the run-up to his 1965 comeback at Carnegie Hall, following a twelve-year absence from the concert-platform; the material includes improvisations and conversations as well as music by Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Mozart, Moszkowski and Schumann.
Available Format: 15 CDs
Uchida has been a regular guest of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 1984, and these performances (recorded live at the Philharmonie in February 2010) were described by one journalist as generating ‘a collective sense of happiness’ for performers and audience alike; the complete concertos are presented on 3 CDs, a Blu-ray audio and a Blu-ray video which includes an interview with Uchida.
Available Formats: 3 CDs + Blu-ray Audio + Blu-ray Video, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
As well as the complete works for solo piano (praised by The New York Times for Ciccolini’s ‘respectful advocacy’ when they first appeared in the early 1990s), this set includes much earlier recordings of selected songs with Janine Micheau, Mady Mesplé and Nicolai Gedda, and the Fantaisie pour piano et orchestre with Jean Martinon and the Orchestre de Paris.
Available Formats: 6 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Gabriel Tacchino is the soloist in the complete Saint-Saëns concertos, and Michael Korstick in the complete Milhaud (originally issued on CPO in 2007 and praised as ‘expertly played’ by Gramophone); this collection also includes works by Alkan, Boieldieu, Chaminade, d’Indy, Françaix, Hahn, Lalo, Massenet, Pierné, Poulenc, Ravel, Roussel and Tailleferre.
Available Formats: 12 CDs, MP3, FLAC
New Books about the Piano, Pianists and Performing
In November 1838, Frederic Chopin sailed to Majorca with George Sand and her children, settling in an abandoned monastery, where he finished his 24 Preludes. There was scarcely a decent piano on the island so Chopin worked on a small pianino made by a local craftsman. New in paperback, this book traces the history of the Preludes through the instruments on which they were played, the pianists who interpreted them and the traditions they came to represent, beginning and ending with the Majorcan pianino.
Available Format: Book
The title of this collection of essays refers to a tailor's mannequin that Brendel spotted in a shop window in Arezzo. Who is this strange lady? What is she looking at? And why is she carrying an egg on her head? The mannequin now graces a room in the attic of Brendel's house in Hampstead. Her features convey artistic seriousness in combination with absurd comedy: the epitome of his own musical and literary preferences.
Available Format: Book
Menahem Pressler is a world-renowned pianist and member of the acclaimed Beaux Arts Trio. A former student brings together his teachings on thirty-seven works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, Prokofiev, and many others. With instructions on phrasing, fingering, imagery, dynamic contrasts, pianistic touches, articulation, and practice drills, pianists of all levels will benefit from Pressler's expertise.
Available Format: Book
Evgeny Kissin's musicality and extraordinary virtuosity have earned him worldwide veneration and admiration. He is renowned for his interpretations of Classical and Romantic works, and has appeared with many of the world's great conductors. Newly available in paperback, this book displays the intensity of Kissin's thinking and of his very being.
Available Format: Book
Piano Sheet Music - Collections and Special Editions
An essential collection of the greatest Christmas songs and carols, specially arranged for solo piano and suitable for the intermediate pianist. This beautiful anthology includes favourites such as O Holy Night, Sleigh Ride and It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas alongside arrangements of 'Winter' (from the Four Seasons), 'Troika' (from Lieutenant Kijé), and more.
Available Format: Sheet Music
Featuring all twenty-nine pieces from the album Lang Lang Piano Book, this is a collection of the most significant pieces from Lang Lang’s personal musical journey. It also includes exclusive photographs, comments from Lang Lang on every piece and an edition of Für Elise annotated with Lang Lang’s own performance notes. This is a book for all pianists to treasure and revisit again and again. Cased with sewn binding, marbled endpapers, page-finder ribbon, head & tail bands, and removable belly-band.
Available Format: Sheet Music
This collected study score edition presents Bach's complete clavier music in four large volumes, containing the definitive Urtext from the New Bach Edition. Prepared by internationally recognised scholars on the basis of all known sources, and the latest research findings, the set contains not only the familiar versions of these works but widely divergent variants from Bach's immediate circle. An indispensable, reliable edition for admirers of Bach's clavier music.
Available Format: Sheet Music
Following the critically acclaimed publication of the 35 Piano Sonatas in separate editions, Bärenreiter now presents Beethoven’s Complete Piano Sonatas in three volumes. This edition, which is unparalleled in terms of its philological accuracy, has been edited by world-renowned Beethoven expert Jonathan Del Mar guaranteeing a musical text at the forefront of musicological scholarship.
Available Format: Sheet Music
What is usually presented as ‘the’ Anna Magdalena Notebook is a set of excerpts from the 1725 collection. The scholarship that informed the New Bach Edition in 1957 has been greatly developed and expanded since then. Now, for the first time, Edition Peters presents a new Urtext edition of the Notebooks for Anna Magdalena Bach.
Available Format: Sheet Music
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