All Around Bach
Stepan Simonian, Asya Fateyeva
From the outset, Simonian reveals his dazzling technique with blazing passagework and spirited rhythms in the fast movements of BWV 979, balanced with wistful and lyrical playing in the slow...
All Around Bach
Stepan Simonian, Asya Fateyeva
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From the outset, Simonian reveals his dazzling technique with blazing passagework and spirited rhythms in the fast movements of BWV 979, balanced with wistful and lyrical playing in the slow...
About
The second album by pianist Stepan Simonian on CAvi-music.
"Arrangements, paraphrases, copies in the music world, these are just a few of the terms that designate the same genre, which has probably existed as long as art itself. What is an arrangement? Is it more or less a copy of the original, or is it an independent work in its own right? How far can the arranger stray from the original? Who is the main author: the composer or the arranger? Even from a legal point of view, this subject is so complex that no clear answer has yet been found.
Throughout his life, Bach often arranged works by other composers and continually rearranged his own. This was something he found natural, and in his day and age it was nothing unusual. In the case of a great number of his works for keyboard, we are not sure whether they were intended for harpsichord, organ, or even clavichord. I have always found this subject of great importance: as a pianist, if one chooses the modern grand as the medium for these pieces, one is performing Bach exclusively in "arrangement" form.
In this context I decided to examine the creative interrelations among works by several composers separated by time and space: from Vivaldi to Busoni, from Bach to Franck and Liszt, in order to conceive a programme for this CD with the figure and the oeuvre of Bach as connecting element: "All Around Bach"(booklet notes by Stepan Simonian)
Critically acclaimed as "one of the great Bach interpreters of his generation", Stepan Simonian is driven by a yearning to explore and illuminate the multiple facets of the great works of piano repertoire, particularly by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach.
Contents and tracklist
- Stepan Simonian
- Stepan Simonian
- Stepan Simonian
- Stepan Simonian
- Stepan Simonian
- Stepan Simonian
- Stepan Simonian
- Stepan Simonian, Asya Fateyeva
- Stepan Simonian, Asya Fateyeva
Awards and reviews
February 2021
From the outset, Simonian reveals his dazzling technique with blazing passagework and spirited rhythms in the fast movements of BWV 979, balanced with wistful and lyrical playing in the slow movements. Here, and in the Italian Concerto, Simonian exploits the piano’s vast expressive range and the potential of its pedals to enhance dynamic and colouristic effects, offsetting a big, concert-hall sound with moments of hushed intimacy.
May/June 2021
[Liszt] Simonian’s reading is dramatic and fiery from the very beginning. His playing becomes more haunting in moments of transition, such as directly before the fugue proper where the instability of the passagework creates tension, one finally released at the appearance of the fugue theme. The fugue provides Simonian ample room to display his skills in every way. He easily handles the various contrapuntal strands, before the work gives way to every pianistic trick in the book.
