About this Release
“The recorded edition of Gerhard Frommel’s seven piano sonatas is now complete with the release of this second volume. The spirit of Frommel’s Sonatas runs like a recurrent theme in his complete oeuvre. I have found a cosmic entirety via interpretation and presentation of each individual piece of this wonderful music. Like looking through a kaleidoscope of mosaics united as symmetrical figures, one can find a whole world of its own in each of those figures. In this regard, the development and unfolding of the musical language of Gerhard Frommel can be identified in his complete set of works as well as in the development of each individual sonata.” — Tatjana Blome
FROMMEL, GERHARD (1906–1984)
Piano Sonatas Nos. 4–7
- Tatjana Blome, piano
GERHARD FROMMEL regarded his piano sonatas as a miniature compendium of his entire output, reflecting a fundamentally Romantic approach melded with Stravinskian vitality. The Sixth Sonata’s poised profundity, inventiveness and structural perfection gives it a place as one of the best in its genre, its serene transparency lying between the powerfully heroic Fifth Sonata and the crystalline quality of the Seventh; a summation of expression in a work that Frommel was conscious would be his last.
Tracklist
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Piano Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 21 (1943) (00:14:18 )
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1
I. Allegro moderato * (00:06:29)
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2
II. Tempo di Siciliano * (00:04:30)
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3
III. Allegro molto * (00:02:46)
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4
Piano Sonata No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 35 (1951) * (00:15:19)
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Piano Sonata No. 6 in B-Flat Major (1956) (00:18:09 )
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5
I. Allegro molto, sempre un poco rubato * (00:06:40)
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6
II. Adagio * (00:07:07)
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7
III. Rondo (nach der Funftonskala): Allegro * (00:04:24)
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Piano Sonata No. 7 in C Major (1966) (00:23:17 )
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8
I. Allegro non troppo, alla breve * (00:08:16)
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9
II. Larghetto, tempo rubato * (00:07:42)
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10
III. Allegro * (00:07:29)
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The Artist(s)
Tatjana Blome took first prize in the Steinway Competition at the age of twelve and a year later gave her first piano recital. In 1995 she made her début with Brahms’s Concerto No. 1 at the Berlin Philharmonie. She has appeared throughout Germany in recitals and as a soloist with various orchestras. She has some 70 recordings to her credit, for Deutsche Grammophon, EDA, Naxos and others. On the Grand Piano label, she has released two volumes of Gerhard Frommel’s piano sonatas [GP606 and 640] to critical acclaim, with MusicWeb International describing them as “nuanced… powerful performances” and American Record Guide finding “one thing after another to marvel at and delight in.”
The Composer(s)
Gerhard Frommel was born on 7 August 1906 in Karlsruhe. He studied first with Hermann Grabner and then, from 1926 to 1928, attended masterclasses given by Hans Pfitzner. He was Professor of Composition at the universities of Frankfurt-am-Main and Stuttgart, among other institutions, and during the war he was active in the Frankfurt Musikhochschule. After 1950, tonal music, including that of Frommel, was regarded in Germany as fascist and was supplanted by dodecaphony and its further developments. Frommel died on 22 June 1984 in Stuttgart. Reviews
“Blome offers nuanced, at times powerful performances” – MusicWeb International
“the young German pianist, Tatjana Blome, has done everything possible for the music, and the clarity of her fingers certainly makes clear the various strands in complex passages.” – David Denton
Grand Piano has gained a reputation for producing high quality recordings of rare keyboard gems. Dedicated to the exploration of undiscovered piano repertoire, the label specialises in complete cycles of piano works by many lesser-known composers, whose output might otherwise have remained unknown and unrecorded.
- info@grandpianorecords.com
