Gift Guides,
Gifts for...Pianists and piano-lovers
In the latest of our Christmas gift-guides, we've selected some perfect presents for the pianist (or piano-lover) in your life. From the best new books about the instrument to a selection of outstanding recent recordings from artists including Yunchan Lim and Yuja Wang, and box-sets celebrating the legacies of Jorge Bolet and Rudolf Firkušný, there's plenty to choose from.
New Recital Albums
Just out of his teens now, the South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim became the youngest-ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, when jury-member Marin Alsop described him as 'that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together'; his live recording of Liszt's Transcendental Études from the semi-final of the competition was hailed as 'one of the finest and most compelling performances [of the work] I have ever heard' by Gramophone's Jeremy Nicholas. This debut album on Decca won both the Piano category and the Young Artist of the Year prize at this year's Gramophone Awards.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
The Canadian pianist told us that a recording of the 'Hammerklavier' Sonata was in his sights at the beginning of 2022, reflecting that he was 'going to wait a while, because that piece is something that you just don’t rush!'. This recording was made twenty months later at St Silas the Martyr in London, after Hamelin had played the work many times in concert; reviewing a recent performance at Queen Elizabeth Hall, BachTrack's Michelle Assay observed that 'the ferocious fugue [...] could hardly have been more daring. Hamelin allowed its near-chaos to unfurl with terrifying determination'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Brahms: Piano Concertos & Solo Piano Op. 116-119
Igor Levit (piano), Wiener Philharmoniker, Christian Thielemann
This is Levit's first concerto album since his debut recording of Beethoven's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (made when he was just 20, with the Kölner Kammerorchester). Reviewing his performance of the first Brahms concerto with Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna earlier this year, Der Standard declared that 'an irresistible dose of emotion was conveyed – but at the same time the sophisticated structure of Brahms’ masterpiece remained crystal clear'. By way of encore, Levit and Thielemann play the four-hand Waltz Op. 39 No. 15 together.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
For his second studio album on Deutsche Grammophon, the winner of the 2021 International Chopin Competition presents Tchaikovsky's set of twelve short character-pieces depicting the months of the year as they manifest in Russia. The Canadian pianist's last album Waves (featuring works by Rameau, Ravel and Alkan) won him the Young Talent prize at last month's Opus Klassik Awards, whilst the collection of his live recordings from the Chopin Competition was described by Gramophone as 'simply as one of the most distinguished Chopin recitals of recent years'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
A finalist at this year's Gramophone Awards, this album also received five stars in BBC Music Magazine, who hailed Abduraimov as 'one of the world’s most accomplished poets of the keyboard' after hearing his programme of Prokofiev (the Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet'), Ravel (Gaspard de la Nuit) and Dilorom Saidaminova (The Walls of Ancient Bukhara, which receives its world premiere recording here).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Comprising Schumann's Arabeske in C major & Davidsbündlertänze, Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales and Stravinsky's Three Movements from 'Petrushka', the American pianist's second solo recording for Warner was an Editor's Choice in the August issue of Gramophone, with Patrick Rucker reflecting that 'I can’t think of another pianist who portrays Ravel’s aesthetic with greater relish or sympathy.' Now 29, Li came to international prominence in 2015 when he won the Silver Medal at International Tchaikovsky Competition.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Now released in memory of Maurizio Pollini (who died on 23rd March), this album was recorded in Munich during the summer of 2022, and sees the great Italian pianist joining forces with his son Daniele for the Fantasia in F minor for piano four hands D940. Father and son each contribute a solo piano work: Daniele plays the Moments Musicaux D780 and Maurizio the Piano Sonata No. 18 in G major D894. Daniele writes: 'Schubert was certainly one of my father’s most beloved composers. As a boy, listening to his beautiful performances of the Sonatas D960 and D894 made me understand the greatness of Schubert’s music.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Rushdie Momen (niece of the novelist Salman) makes her debut on Hyperion with a recital of Tudor keyboard music which includes Byrd's The Bells, Will Yow Walke the Woods So Wylde and Pavana Lachrymae, Gibbons's The King's Jewel and Whoop, Do Me No Harm, Good Man, Sweelinck's Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la a 4 voci, and Bull's Walsingham and Doctor Bull's Good Night. The album received five stars in The Times, thanks to her ability to 'interpret the music with clarity and a natural ease never compromised by her myriad subtleties of dynamics, touch and tone'.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Recorded live at the Wiener Konzerthaus in April 2022, Wang's programme includes Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 3, Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 18 ('The Hunt'), 'Lavapiés' and 'Malaga' from Albéniz's Iberia, Études by Ligeti and Glass, two of Kapustin's Preludes in Jazz Style, and Márquez's Danzón No. 2. Reviewing her performance of a similar programme in London a few days earlier, The Guardian remarked that 'technically everything was dazzling, every detail crisp and perfectly articulated, with chords exactly weighted and precisely placed...It was all thoroughly musical, too, never heartless or mechanical.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Reviewing Rana's recording of Chopin's Études Op. 25 and Four Scherzi in 2021, Fanfare described her as 'a pianist who could eventually match Argerich in mastering the piano at a rare level of formidable technique, fiery temperament, and totally absorbing musicality'. Three years on, she couples his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor with one of the most technically-demanding works in the piano repertoire - Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat, in which she immersed herself deeply during the lockdowns of 2020/21.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
New Collections
Covering the pianist’s first decade as a recording artist, this set includes his debut solo recording on Telarc (a recital from the 2000 Tanglewood Festival featuring Balakirev's Islamey), Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concertos No. 1 with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Chopin piano concertos with Zubin Mehta and the Wiener Philharmoniker, two recitals from Carnegie Hall, the 2006 album Dragon Song, and Rachmaninov & Tchaikovsky piano trios with Vadim Repin and Mischa Maisky.
Available Format: 12 CDs
This 6-disc set brings together Lewis's acclaimed recordings of Schubert's major mature works for solo piano, including the Piano Sonatas Nos. 14-21, the Wanderer-Fantasie, Moments Musicaux, Impromptus D899 & 935, and the Drei Klavierstücke D946). Reviewing the recording of Piano Sonatas Nos. 15, 17 & 18 in 2012, Gramophone declared that 'every now and again a recording comes along that makes you want to dance in the street, handing out copies to complete strangers. This is one of those instances', whilst The Telegraph opined that 'Lewis’s mature insight into the workings and emotional characteristics of these works lends his interpretations particular power and depth'.
Available Format: 6 CDs
Released last Friday, this 26-CD set brings together all of the recordings which the Cuban-American pianist made for Decca between 1977 and 1990, including his previously-unreleased final recording - a selection of Chopin’s Nocturnes and the Berceuse, made just seven months before his death. The repertoire also includes a substantial amount of Liszt (notably the complete Années de pèlerinage), Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3, and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Available Format: 26 CDs
Made between 1973 and 1990, this collection of recordings by the French pianist (1947-93) includes Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze, Kinderszenen, Papillons and Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2, d'Indy's Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français, violin sonatas by Franck, Lekeu, Schumann and Prokofiev with Catherine Courtois, and (with Collard's frequent duo partner Anne Queffélec) Satie's Trois morceaux en forme de poire and La belle excentrique.
Available Formats: 7 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Released to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Moravian-American pianist's death, this collection of his recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, British & American Decca and Westminster includes previously-unreleased accounts of Mozart's Dupont Variations and Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat from 1963, a 1960 recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition which Gramophone's Bryce Morrison described as displaying 'the highest musicality caught, as it were, on the wing', Beethoven violin sonatas with Erica Morini, and of course a substantial selection of works by Janáček.
Available Format: 12 CDs
Recent Books about the Piano and Pianists
Women are an essential part of the history of the piano - but how many women pianists can you name? Susan Tomes traces fifty women across the piano’s history, from Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn to more overlooked women such as Hélène de Montgeroult, Leopoldine Wittgenstein, and Hazel Scott. Including interviews with women performing today, this is a much-needed corrective to our understanding of the piano.
Available Format: Book
The Piano Player of Budapest: A True Story of Holocaust Survival, Music and Hope
Roxanne de Bastion; Robinson Publishing; Hardback
In 1939, pianist Stephen de Bastion's world disintegrated into a brutal story of the unimaginable horrors he endured during the Holocaust as a man of Jewish descent. His piano, which his granddaughter Roxanne inherited, has been in the family for over one hundred years. Weaving together Stephen's original recordings, unpublished memoirs, letters and documents, Roxanne sings out her grandfather's story of music and hope, lost and found.
Available Format: Book
