[ Naxos / CD ]
Release Date: Sunday 1 March 2015
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
The three works on this recording are collections of short pieces, strung together and forming a cohesive whole - a form which Schumann himself invented, developed and brought to perfection. Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the League of David) was written after Schumann's engagement to Clara Wieck, to whom he wrote, 'If I have ever been happy at the piano, it was when I was composing these.' Papillons (Butterflies) is the work of a youthful, unfettered imagination, and Carnaval is one of his most popular pieces, a display of both technique and emotion.
Boris Giltburg, who took first prize at the 2013 Queen Elisabeth Competition, is one of today's most thrilling young pianists. This release marks the start of an exciting new collaboration with Naxos.
"Once again he shows himself the possessor of a massive and engulfing technique, this time supporting interpretations that glow with warmth and poetic commitment…" Gramophone, October 2013
"His virtuosity is beyond question, but it is what he does with it that makes such a difference. There is emotional power here, together with apt tonal weight, but there is also a sensitive inwardness that reveals subtle expressive facets" Daily Telegraph, October 2013.
"For sheer brilliance, Boris Giltburg's recital of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Ravel was the outstanding event of the season: this young Russian has remarkable range and a sublimely assured artistry" International Piano, March 2014
"[Schumann] was the undisputed master of miniature. But miniature is a misleading word, as these vivid, subtle performances by this Israeli pianist remind us." Sunday Times, 8th February 2015
"You can judge his affinity with the Schumann style from the very opening bars of the Davidsbündlertänze: the give and take of the music's pulse is naturally felt, as is the spectrum of tonal and dynamic shading. Much thought has gone into the preparation of these performances, but the quality that comes across here is one of spontaneous invention." The Telegraph, 8th February 2015 ****
Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6
Papillons, Op. 2
Carnaval, Op. 9