The Norwegian Christian Ihle Hadland is a fascinatingly different pianist. Here he perfoms a diverse programme ranging though pieces by Haydn, Brahms, Borodin, Glinka and Schubert.

Ihle Hadland’s musicianship has a refreshing openness and honesty; with an artistic presence that is indeed rare today. A true lyricist at the piano, Hadland is extremely fine-tuned into the most sensitive nuances of the music he performs.

Displaying an exceptional control of timbre and the most delicate and sensitive approach to the instrument imaginable, makes him a high-in-demand musician all over the world and a favourite both with audiences and music critics. Ihle Hadland’s previous recordings of works by composers such as Chopin, Schumann, Grieg and Mozart, have rightfully received world-wide attention.

On his third solo album for Simax Classics the extraordinary pianist approaches the musical landscape of Central-Europe and Russia. The melancholy permeates throughout the title track, “Zhavoronok” (The Lark), by Mikhail Glinka – a re-working for piano the Balakirev did by a song Glinka wrote after his marriage stranded. The melancholy is no less evident in Brahms’ piano pieces or Haydn’s Sturm und Drang-characterized piano sonata – a lonesome swallow (or perhaps, lark) in minor amongst his many sonatas in the major key.