From Berlin to Athens: Piano Works by Nikos Skalkottas

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Ramou navigates her way through these sometimes knotty scores, which she clearly knows inside-out, with consummate musicianship. The piano tone is warm and full although the over-resonant acoustic... — Gramophone Magazine, October 2019 More…

Release Date: 31st May 2019
Catalogue No: BIS2364
Label: BIS
Length: 87 minutes

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Skalkottas: Griechische Suite

Work length7:22

$3.50

$3.90

$5.25

Lorenda Ramou (piano)

I. Allegretto

Track length3:00

$1.50

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II. Andantino

Track length2:01

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III. Presto - Andantino

Track length2:21

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Skalkottas: Suite (1924)

Work length13:00

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Lorenda Ramou (piano)

I. — [Fragment]

Track length3:07

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II. Molto moderato

Track length4:50

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III. Shimmy Tempo

Track length5:03

$1.00

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Skalkottas: Sonatina for Piano

Work length7:26

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Lorenda Ramou (piano)

I. Allegretto vivace

Track length1:24

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II. Siciliano

Track length2:46

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III. Finale

Track length3:16

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Skalkottas: 15 Little Variations for Piano

Work length8:33

$1.00

$2.60

$3.50

Lorenda Ramou (piano)

Skalkottas: Suite No. 2

Work length9:04

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

Lorenda Ramou (piano)

I. Largo

Track length2:09

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II. Gavottes I & II

Track length2:19

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III. Rapsodie. Molto moderato

Track length1:32

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IV. Marsch. Allegro

Track length3:04

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Skalkottas: Suite No. 3

Work length12:05

$4.00

$5.20

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Lorenda Ramou (piano)

I. Menuetto

Track length3:09

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II. Thema con variazioni. Lento

Track length2:23

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III. Marcia funebra. Maestoso

Track length4:57

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IV. Finale. Allegro vivace

Track length1:36

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Skalkottas: Suite No. 4

Work length7:49

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

Lorenda Ramou (piano)

I. Toccata. Vivace

Track length1:08

$1.00

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II. Andantino. Con grazia

Track length2:00

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III. Polka. Tempo di polka moderato

Track length1:47

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IV. Serenade. Allegro moderato

Track length2:54

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Skalkottas: The Gnomes, ballet music

Work length22:12

$9.00

$11.70

$15.75

Lorenda Ramou (piano)

I. Introduction

Track length1:09

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II. Exertion

Track length2:41

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III. Majestic Dance

Track length2:31

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IV. Fast Cretan Dance

Track length2:18

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V. Intermezzo lirico

Track length2:52

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VI. Finale I

Track length2:55

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I. Epilogue

Track length1:34

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II. Intermezzo (Chorale)

Track length4:08

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III. Finale II

Track length2:04

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About
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About

The choice of works on this amply filled album, as well as the performances are the result of Lorenda Ramou’s research into the artistic environment of Nikos Skalkottas, in Berlin (1921–33) and in Athens (1933–49). The programme is organized as a triptych, focusing on three distinctive compositional styles. First, all surviving Berlin works for piano solo are presented in chronological order, showing how the young composer was reacting to the new and exciting jazz/dance music, but also to the people around him and to events in the musical world of Berlin in the 1920s. This is followed by Suites Nos 2, 3 and 4, a group of mature works composed at the beginning of World War II (1940–41). Closing the release, finally, is the dance suite The Gnomes, probably composed in 1939 and one of a group of piano scores for ballets with Greek subjects. Lorenda Ramou has previously released ‘The Land and the Sea of Greece’ – an album of precisely such scores by Skalkottas – which earned her praise from the reviewer in Gramophone: ‘Her playing is full of verve and alive to the delicacy of Skalkottas’s writing.’

Reviews

October 2019

Ramou navigates her way through these sometimes knotty scores, which she clearly knows inside-out, with consummate musicianship. The piano tone is warm and full although the over-resonant acoustic is not ideal. However, with BIS’s superb recorded sound, every nuance is captured in a constantly fascinating and rewarding issue.

From Berlin to Athens

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