Alessio Bax

Scriabin / Mussorgsky

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212042625
Catnr: SIGCD 426
Release date: 05 February 2016
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Label
Signum Classics
UPC
0635212042625
Catalogue number
SIGCD 426
Release date
05 February 2016
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
NL

About the album

For his latest solo album in a growing catalog of increasingly critically praised recordings for Signum Classics, Alessio Bax returns with a program of rich and evocative works for piano by Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Scriabin. The Italian-born, NYC-based pianist Alessio Bax creates “a ravishing listening experience” with his lyrical playing, insightful interpretations, and dazzling facility. “His playing quivers with an almost hypnotic intensity,” says Gramophone magazine, leading to what Dallas Morning News calls “an out-of-body experience.” “…a pianist of refreshing depth.” (International Piano) Alessio Bax plays Beethoven, released in 2014, was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice: “'Even when compared to legendary performances of this sonata (Kempff, Richter, Gilels, Brendel, etc), this performance stands its ground in music to test the technique and intellect of even the greatest pianists.”
Sterpianist Bax speelt rijke en emotionele Russische werken
De vermaarde pianist Alessio Bax presenteert een programma van rijke en beeldende pianowerken van Modest Moessorgski en Aleksandr Skrjabin.

Bax schreef over het album: “De muziek op dit album beschrijft emoties in scherpe kleuren, op een hartstochtelijke en schaamteloze Russische manier. Het centrale werk, Moessorgski's Schilderijententoonstelling, behoeft geen introductie. Ravel maakte het werk beroemd met zijn ongelooflijke orkestratie, maar ik wilde teruggaan naar de originele versie, alsof ik mijn oren wilde zuiveren van de prachtige kleuren van Ravel en de typisch Russische kleuren die naar mijn mening in de pianopartij zijn ingebed wilde opgraven. (..) Ik heb besloten mijn eigen versie ervan op te nemen. Ik hield me grotendeels aan de originele compositie, ook al heb ik het werk op een paar plaatsen verdikt om het een rijker, breder en misschien wel dramatischer palet te geven.”

“Skrjabins Pianosonate No. 3 is een waar meesterwerk: zijn structuur is zeer klassiek, zijn ritmische elementen zijn haast obsessief en zijn thema’s zijn ongelooflijk prachtig. (…) Het is een emotionele achtbaan, die echter op meesterlijke wijze bij elkaar wordt gehouden door gemeenschappelijke elementen, klein en groot, en een geweldige structuur.”

Met zijn lyrische spel, inzichtelijke interpretaties en indrukwekkende talent creëert Alessio Bax volgens The Gramophone “a ravishing listening experience”. Hij heeft als solist al met meer dan honderd orkesten opgetreden.

Artist(s)

Alessio Bax (piano)

Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt 'among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public' (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on five continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but also as a concerto soloist who has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Dallas, Sydney, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden. Bax...
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Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt "among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public" (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on five continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but also as a concerto soloist who has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Dallas, Sydney, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden.

Bax explores many facets of his career in the 2019-20 season. Fall brings the release of Italian Inspirations, his eleventh recording for Signum Classics. Pairing works by Luigi Dallapiccola and Alessandro Marcello with Italian-themed pieces by Rachmaninov and Liszt, the album's program is also the vehicle for Bax's solo recital debut at New York's 92nd Street Y. A further debut follows with the Milwaukee Symphony, where he plays Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto under Han-Na Chang, and the same composer's Fourth Concerto and Choral Fantasy take him to the Santa Barbara Symphony. Placing especial focus on long-term collaborative projects, this season Bax undertakes Beethoven's complete works for cello and piano at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) and on a forthcoming Signum Classics release, both with Paul Watkins of the Emerson String Quartet; plays trios in South America with Berlin Philharmonic concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto and French horn virtuoso Radovan Vlatkovic; and embarks on multiple U.S. and European recital tours with superstar violinist Joshua Bell. After headlining the North Carolina Symphony's season-opening concerts together, Bax and his regular piano partner, Lucille Chung, give duo recitals with CMS, at Atlanta's Spivey Hall, in the Yale Piano Series, and at Sala São Paulo in Brazil. Bax rounds out the season with a full summer of festivals, highlighted by his third season as Artistic Director of Tuscany's Incontri in Terra di Siena festival, which is fast becoming a major international destination for music-lovers.

Bax revisited the two concertos heard on Alessio Bax Plays Mozart for his recent debuts with the Boston and Melbourne Symphonies, both with Sir Andrew Davis, and with the Sydney Symphony, which he led himself from the keyboard. Other 2018-19 highlights include the pianist's Auckland Philharmonia debut, concerts in Israel, a Japanese tour featuring dates with the Tokyo Symphony, U.S. collaborations with Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Edo de Waart, and two solo recitals marking his return to the prestigious Mozarteum Argentino series at Buenos Aires's Teatro Colón. Recent seasons have also seen Bax make his solo recital debut at London's Wigmore Hall, which aired live on BBC Radio 3, and give concerts at L.A.'s Disney Hall, Washington's Kennedy Center, and New York's Carnegie Hall. In 2009, he was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and four years later he received both the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists.

Bax is a staple on the international summer festival circuit, and has performed at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland; the Aldeburgh Festival, Bath Festival, and Southbank Centre's International Piano Series in England; the Risør Festival in Norway; the Salon-de-Provence Festival in France; the Moritzburg Festival, Ruhr Klavier-Festival, and Beethovenfest Bonn in Germany; and Le Pont International Music Festival in Japan. In the U.S., he makes regular appearances at Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and New York's Bard Music Festival. As a chamber musician, Bax has collaborated with Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Ian Bostridge, Lucille Chung, Sol Gabetta, Steven Isserlis, Daishin Kashimoto, Emmanuel Pahud, Lawrence Power, Paul Watkins, Jörg Widmann, and the Emerson String Quartet, among many others.

Bax's celebrated discography for Signum Classics includes Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" and "Moonlight" Sonatas (a Gramophone "Editor's Choice"); Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto; Bax & Chung, a duo disc with Lucille Chung that includes Stravinsky's original four-hand version of the ballet Pétrouchka as well as music by Brahms and Piazzolla; Alessio Bax plays Mozart, comprising Piano Concertos K. 491 and K. 595 with London's Southbank Sinfonia and Simon Over; Alessio Bax: Scriabin & Mussorgsky (named "Recording of the Month . and quite possibly . of the year" by MusicWeb International); Alessio Bax plays Brahms (a Gramophone "Critics' Choice"); Bach Transcribed; and Rachmaninov: Preludes & Melodies (an American Record Guide "Critics' Choice 2011"). Recorded for Warner Classics, his Baroque Reflections album was also a Gramophone "Editor's Choice." He performed Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata for maestro Daniel Barenboim in the PBS-TV documentary Barenboim on Beethoven: Masterclass, available as a DVD boxed set on the EMI label.

Alessio Bax graduated with top honors at the record age of 14 from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, where his teacher was Angela Montemurro. He studied in France with Francois-Joël Thiollier and attended the Chigiana Academy in Siena under Joaquín Achúcarro. In 1994 he moved to Dallas to continue his studies with Achúcarro at Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts. In fall 2019, Bax joins the piano faculty of Boston's New England Conservatory. A Steinway artist, he lives in New York City with Lucille Chung and their five-year-old daughter, Mila. Beyond the concert hall he is known for his longtime obsession with fine food; as a 2013 New York Times profile noted, he is not only notorious for hosting "epic" multi-course dinner parties, but often spends his intermissions dreaming of meals to come.


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Composer(s)

Alexander Scriabin

Alexander Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist. He began playing the piano at the age of five, but received his first lessons only at the age of eleven. He could not play from sight, but studied the score and played the compositions by heart afterwards. He was also a gifted improviser. During the rest of his live Scriabin made a living as a composer and concert pianist.He established contracts with publishers and also had a patron in his former student Margarita Morozova for some time. In addition, he annually won a money prize in the context of the Glinka-prize for new compositions that was set up by Beljajev. Scriabin primarily wrote for solo piano and orchestra. His music progressively evolved over...
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Alexander Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist. He began playing the piano at the age of five, but received his first lessons only at the age of eleven. He could not play from sight, but studied the score and played the compositions by heart afterwards. He was also a gifted improviser.
During the rest of his live Scriabin made a living as a composer and concert pianist.He established contracts with publishers and also had a patron in his former student Margarita Morozova for some time. In addition, he annually won a money prize in the context of the Glinka-prize for new compositions that was set up by Beljajev.
Scriabin primarily wrote for solo piano and orchestra. His music progressively evolved over the course of his life, although the evolution was very rapid and especially brief when compared to most composers. His earliest piano pieces resemble those of Frédéric Chopin. The works from his middle and late period use very unusual harmonies and textures.
From 1904 till 1910 Scriabin lived in western Europe, primarily in Switzerland, but also in northern Italy, Paris and Brussels. After his return to Russia he found himself in the middle of a circle of admirers who were attracted to his exalted and mystic ideas. During the last years of his life he worked on a grandiose manifestation, a Gesamtkunstwerk, Mysterium, in which all arts and all people would have been united. He left only sketches of the prelude to this piece (L'action préalable) and large amounts of text.

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Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music. Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes. Such works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. For many years Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Many of his most important compositions have posthumously come into their own in their original forms, and some of the original scores...
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Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five". He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.
Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes. Such works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.
For many years Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Many of his most important compositions have posthumously come into their own in their original forms, and some of the original scores are now also available.

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Press

Play album
01.
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23: I. Drammatico
06:33
(Alexander Scriabin) Allesio Bax
02.
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23: II. Allegretto
02:38
(Alexander Scriabin) Allesio Bax
03.
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23: III. Andante
04:10
(Alexander Scriabin) Allesio Bax
04.
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23: IV. Presto con fuoco
05:10
(Alexander Scriabin) Allesio Bax
05.
Estude in C-Sharp Minor, Op 2, No.1
02:50
(Alexander Scriabin) Allesio Bax
06.
Prelude for left hand alone, Op. 9, No. 1
02:44
(Alexander Scriabin) Allesio Bax
07.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade
01:23
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
08.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Gnomus (The Gnome)
02:51
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
09.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade
00:45
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
10.
Pictures at an Exhibition: II vechio castello ( The Old Castle)
04:03
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
11.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade
00:24
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
12.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Tuileris (The Tuilieres)
00:58
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
13.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Byd o (Oxcart)
03:10
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
14.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade
00:43
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
15.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Ballet des pouissins dans leurs quques (Ballet of the Unhatced Chicks in their Shells)
01:07
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
16.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
02:13
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
17.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade
01:14
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
18.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Limoges - Le marche (Limoges - The Market Place)
01:17
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
19.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Catacombae (The Catacombs)
01:46
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
20.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Cum mortuis in lingua mortua (With the Dead in a Dead Language)
01:41
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
21.
Pictures at an Exhibition: La cabane sur des pattes de poule, 'Baba-Yaga' (The Hut on Fowls Legs)
03:16
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
22.
Pictures at an Exhibition: La grande porte de kiev ( The Great Gate of Kiev)
04:55
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
23.
Night on the Bare Mountain
10:23
(Modest Mussorgsky) Allesio Bax
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