[ Hyperion / CD ]
Release Date: Saturday 25 July 2015
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Garrick Ohlsson has an unbeaten reputation as the master of the miniature. In this new recital he presents three sets of Études: the twelve by Claude Debussy (so ferocious in their demands they were shunned even by elite pianists for decades), as well as Prokofiev's revolutionary opus 2 and a set of three lesser-known works by Bartók. In all Ohlsson excels.
"His powerful technique motors through Prokofiev's four miniatures with tremendous confidence, relishing their naughty-boy dissonances, and he treats the Lisztian flourishes that occasionally surface in the modernist currents of Bartók's three pieces with suitable flamboyance. There are some fine moments in the Debussy set, too." (Guardian)
"And just when you think your jaw couldn't drop any further Ohlsson dashes off Bartók's Op. 18 with all the clarity and passion these pieces deserve. This isn't the kind of subversive talent one recognises in Prokofiev, say, but it certainly marks out the Hungarian as a bold and uncompromising musical presence. That's just the way Ohlsson sees this music; no quarter asked for, none given. Throw in Roger Nichols' highly readable liner-notes and you have a piano album to die for. Dazzling pianism, class-leading sound; another notch on Ohlsson's bed post." Recording of the Month MusicWeb August 2015
Bartók:
3 Studies, BB 81, Sz. 72, Op. 18
Debussy:
Études pour piano (12) (complete)
Prokofiev:
Four Etudes, Op. 2