Grieg: Lyric Pieces & Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte
Denis Kozhukhin (piano)
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, June 2019
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2019, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
Kozhukhin plays Mendelssohn with an almost business-like elegance…the mechanics of this pianist’s impressive hands trump the expressivity of an imagined singer’s voice. Grieg’s straightforwardly...
Grieg: Lyric Pieces & Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte
Denis Kozhukhin (piano)
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, June 2019
-
Gramophone Magazine, September 2019, Recording of the Month
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
Kozhukhin plays Mendelssohn with an almost business-like elegance…the mechanics of this pianist’s impressive hands trump the expressivity of an imagined singer’s voice. Grieg’s straightforwardly...
About
On his new solo album, Russian star pianist Denis Kozhukhin presents a personal and colourful collection of character pieces taken from Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte and Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Pieces. Combing these miniature gems by two outstanding poets of music, Kozhukhin provides a shining example of how disarmingly touching and penetrating a simple song or a vision of nature captured in sound can be.
The programme features classics such as Mendelssohn’s Venetian Gondola Song and Grieg’s Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, as well as less famous but equally enchanting pieces. Kozukhin lifts out the noble simplicity of these works with his delicate playing.
Denis Kozhukhin has established himself as one of the greatest pianists of his generation. He now presents the fifth chapter to his exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE, after albums with the piano concertos of Grieg and Tchaikovsky (2016), Brahms Ballades and Fantasies (2017), Ravel and Gershwin piano concertos, as well as Richard Strauss’ Burleske (both 2018).
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
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Presto Editor's ChoiceJune 2019
-
Gramophone MagazineSeptember 2019Recording of the Month
-
Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2019
September 2019
Kozhukhin plays Mendelssohn with an almost business-like elegance…the mechanics of this pianist’s impressive hands trump the expressivity of an imagined singer’s voice. Grieg’s straightforwardly programmatic pieces suit Kozhukhin better, inspiring music characterful playing.
January/February 2020
Denis Kozhukhin plays each one these numbers with silken beauty of tone and real poetic sensitivity to the scene and mood settings of the music.
September 2019
Once in a while a piano recording comes along that really plucks at the heart-strings. Denis Kozhukhin's compilation of miniatures by Mendelssohn and Grieg is one such...He brings to the table a perfect balance between spontaneity and control, teamed with infinite variety of touch and timbre. Every phrase is imbued with sensitivity and luminous beauty.
December 2019
Tonally refined and subtly inflected, his joy in such music is almost palpable. His ‘Elegy’ (Op 47 No 7) reminds you of Grieg’s fundamentally autumnal and melancholic nature, and in the central section of ‘Wedding Day at Troldhaugen’ there is a sense of passing regret amid the festivities. This is a debut disc of a special warmth and affection.
June 2019
Having only previously heard this Russian pianist in relatively heavyweight and/or austere repertoire, I was pleasantly taken aback by the gentle charm of this lovely, intimate recital of Grieg and Mendelssohn miniatures, which has the warm, confiding atmosphere of an impromptu performance given among friends.
