[ Hyperion / CD ]
Release Date: Wednesday 1 April 2015
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The penultimate volume in Hyperion's four-part survey of the complete solo piano music of Ernő Dohnányi focuses on music from the period when the composer's pre-eminent position was being assured. The titles of the largest works here, Ruralia hungarica and the Variations on a Hungarian Folksong, mask in their nationalistic ostentation the skill of a true master of piano composition.
Martin Roscoe inhabits the world of Dohnányi's music like no other-appraisals of the earlier volumes attest to this-and this new recording is a joy.
"[Roscoe] is the one for repeated listening. His finesse of colouring as well as his strong rhythmic impulse and lyrical astuteness are qualities that fit the music ideally and allow it to bloom...an eloquently expressive advocate for an unduly neglected master of the keyboard." (Daily Telegraph)
'The ever-impressive Martin Roscoe continues his Dohnányi survey with this disc of the composer's complete solo piano works, often beguiling music and all brilliantly played.' (Editor's Choice Gramophone April 2015)
"The most substantial item...is undoubtedly the suite Ruralia Hungarica...It's an enormously attractive work, by turns exhilarating...and rhapsodic...Roscoe relishes these contrasts in mood with playing that is both exuberant and expressive. Similar qualities abound in Roscoe's masterly performances of the 1971 Variations on a Hungarian folksong and the Three Pieces Op. 23."
(Five Stars BBC Music)
"Martin Roscoe is brilliant throughout. Rhythms are crisp, articulation faultless and he knows exactly when to pull back and let the lyrical passages speak for themselves. It's a complete joy. The recording itself is clear with plenty of air around it but perhaps a little bit too distant for my taste. The disc needs to played at quite a high level to get the best out of it but even then the bass is lightweight. In summary, this is musically faultless and the recording is good rather than outstanding. It also offers great value with a playing time of 79 minutes." (MusicWeb May 2015)
Dohnányi:
Ruralia hungarica, Op. 32a
Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song Op. 29
Three Pieces, Op. 23
Gavotte and Musette in B flat
Waltz for Piano from Delibes' "Naila"
Schatz Waltz (Treasure Waltz)
Strauss, J, II:
Du und Du Walzer, Op. 367 (arr. Ernő Dohnányi)