NEW ON NAXOS | JULY 2019


Muzio CLEMENTI (1752–1832) Keyboard Sonatas


Op. 2, Nos. 2 and 6 • Op. 7, Nos. 1 and 2 • Op. 9, No. 2 • Op. 12, No. 1 Sun-A Park, Piano


Though Mozart was typically grudging, Beethoven had a high regard for Muzio Clementi’s compositions. A leading soloist, Clementi was pivotal to the piano’s development as a virtuoso instrument, but he was also a publisher and innovator. His sonatas combine clarity of form with moments of bravura brilliance, laced with scintillating hand-crossings and his trademark chains of thirds, on which Mozart commented. Infectiously exciting in prestissimo sections, his sonatas offer a compendium of how to exploit new advances in the development of the piano.


Key Feature:


● The series of Clementi’s sonatas is spread across various performers in each volume. The most recent release was presented by Sandro De Palma (8.573880), in which iClassical commented: ‘These are highly enjoyable works that show Clementi’s development as a composer for the keyboard. They are well performed and the recording allows one to fully appreciate Sandro De Palma’s excellent pianism.’ (★★★★)


8.573940 CLICK PLAY BUTTON TO HEAR TRACK 10:


Keyboard Sonata in C major, Op. 7, No. 2: II. Andantino quasi allegretto – Presto


Ferruccio BUSONI (1866–1924)


Piano Music, Vol. 11 Ten Chorale Preludes • Sonatina brevis (No. 5)


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Preludio al Corale e Fuga (Edizione minore) • Prelude, Fugue and Allegro Wolf Harden, Piano


Transcriptions occupied Ferruccio Busoni from early in his career, but his famously Romantic version of the Chaconne in D minor (Naxos 8.555699) contrasts with the later and more austere Sonatina brevis based on Bach’s Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, BWV 905. Music from Bach’s The Art of Fugue is invoked in the rarely heard Edizione minore version of the Fantasia contrappuntistica, and the Ten Chorale Preludes include the glorious Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. Sir Edward Elgar considered Busoni ‘the greatest musical mind of his time’, and Wolf Harden’s playing of Busoni has been described as ‘the clear current benchmark’ (BBC Music Magazine on Volume 2, 8.555699).


Key Feature: 8.573982


● Wolf Harden continues his edition of Busoni’s piano music, probing further into the composer’s numerous transcriptions. This 11th volume follows on from Vol. 10 (8.573806) which was released in March 2018. Recorded in Wyastone Concert Hall, a renowned venue with ideal acoustics for solo piano, this series has been critically acclaimed for its excellent sound quality. Harden’s playing has been described as ‘clean, refined, and fully committed’ (ClassicsToday.com on Vol. 8, 8.572845), ‘Harden meets all challenges head-on and fearlessly’ (MusicWeb International on Vol. 6, 8.572077).


CLICK PLAY BUTTON TO HEAR TRACK 01: Sonatina brevis (No. 5) ‘In signo Joannis Sebastiani Magni’, BV. 280


Bechara EL-KHOURY (b. 1957)


Piano Sonatas Nos. 1–4 Giacomo Scinardo, Piano


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Piano music has always been important to Bechara El-Khoury: it brings his compositional voice closer to the listener, allowing him to share his feelings more directly than in some of his orchestral works. These works represent different periods of El-Khoury’s life, but share a conception aimed at creating atmosphere with expressive states that continually switch between violence, anger, suffering and rebellion, and inquiring explorations of peaceful or dreamlike meditation.


Key Feature:


● Our catalogue of releases with the music of Bechara El-Khoury has until now been almost entirely of orchestral works, and for the first time we are now devoting an entire disc to his piano works. With no alternative recordings of these works commercially available and given a close association between pianist and composer (the Fourth Piano Sonata is dedicated to Giacomo Scinardo), this is a strikingly impressive document that will be of great value to El-Khoury’s many fans.


8.579022


CLICK PLAY BUTTON TO HEAR TRACK 05: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 61: II. Presto con fuoco


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© Paul Schimweg


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