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TCHEREPNIN, ALEXANDER (1899–1977)

Complete Piano Music • 1


  • Giorgio Koukl, piano

This first volume of Alexander Tcherepnin’s extensive list of works for piano takes us from some of his earliest works as a precocious Russian teenager, through to significant and intensely expressive compositions. From the vitally youthful picture stories of the Bagatelles, through the remarkable Sonatas to the exploratory late Ascension, each work is a gold mine of astoundingly inventive and distinctively individual craftsmanship. The program demonstrates Tcherepnin’s mastery of the miniature and the monumental, speaking to the heart from a basis in the Romantic tradition. Tcherepnin’s is a voice which stands comparison with Prokofiev and at times Rachmaninov, but the over-riding impression is of striking individuality and compelling inventiveness.

Tracklist

 
10 Bagatelles, Op. 5 (1918) (00:12:00 )
1
No. 1. Allegro marciale (00:00:57)
2
No. 2. Con vivacita (00:01:31)
3
No. 3. Vivo (00:00:58)
4
No. 4. Lento con tristezza (00:01:45)
5
No. 5. Dolce (00:01:16)
6
No. 6. Allegro con spirito (00:01:02)
7
No. 7. Prestissimo (00:01:11)
8
No. 8. Allegro (00:01:03)
9
No. 9. Allegretto (00:00:43)
10
No. 10. Presto (00:01:09)
 
Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22 (1918) (00:14:36 )
11
I. Allegro comodo (00:07:11)
12
II. Andante (00:02:59)
13
III. Allegro (00:02:09)
14
IV. Grave (00:02:18)
 
9 Inventions, Op. 13 (1921) (00:05:44 )
15
Invention No. 1: Sans lenteur * (00:00:52)
16
Invention No. 2: Vif et énergique * (00:00:41)
17
Invention No. 3: Modéré * (00:00:28)
18
Invention No. 4: Avec mouvement * (00:00:31)
19
Invention No. 5: Lourd * (00:00:40)
20
Invention No. 6: Vite * (00:00:29)
21
Invention No. 7: Tranquille * (00:00:45)
22
Invention No. 8: Lent * (00:00:45)
23
Invention No. 9: Claire * (00:00:32)
 
Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 94 (1961) (00:11:11 )
24
I. Lento (00:04:26)
25
II. Andantino (00:02:38)
26
III. Animato (00:04:07)
 
10 Etudes, Op. 18 (1920) (00:25:00 )
27
No. 1. Allegretto * (00:02:10)
28
No. 2. Rubato * (00:01:42)
29
No. 3. Marziale * (00:01:52)
30
No. 4. Andantino * (00:02:01)
31
No. 5. Vivace * (00:01:57)
32
No. 6. Moderato * (00:02:09)
33
No. 7. Allegretto con moto * (00:01:31)
34
No. 8. Vivace * (00:00:38)
35
No. 9. Maestoso * (00:02:29)
36
No. 10. Lento * (00:03:03)
* World Première Recording
Total Time: 01:02:38

The Artist(s)

Giorgio Koukl Giorgio Koukl is a Czech pianist/harpsichordist and composer. He studied at both the Conservatories of Zürich and Milan, where he took part in the masterclasses of Nikita Magaloff, Jacques Février and Stanislas Neuhaus, and with Rudolf Firkušný, friend and advocate of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů. It was through Firkušný that Koukl first encountered Martinů’s music, prompting him to search out his compatriot’s solo piano works. Since then he has developed these into an important part of his concert repertoire and is now considered one of the world’s leading interpreters of Martinů’s piano music. As a logical continuation of this work, Koukl has recorded the complete solo piano works of Paul Le Flem, Alexander Tcherepnin, Arthur Lourié, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Witold Lutosławski, and more recently, Alexandre Tansman, Vittorio Rieti and Tibor Harsányi.

The Composer(s)

Alexander began playing piano and composing at an early age. By his late teens he had composed several hundred pieces, thirteen piano sonatas among them. For a more extensive biography of Alexander Tcherepnin, and information about his works and compositional techniques, visit the Tcherepnin Society website at www.tcherepnin.com.

Reviews

“Koukl proves himself a most sympathetic advocate for Tcherepnin’s music, whether on a small or large scale.” – International Piano

Pizzicato

“Fascinatingly fresh” – Pizzicato

MusicWeb International

“This is one of those discs that makes me want to shout with delight. ” – MusicWeb International