Brilliant Classics presents the debut recording of the young Italian virtuoso Vanessa Benelli Mosell, whose career is developing rapidly, all over the world, playing with orchestras (Berliner Philharmonie) and in solo recitals (London Wigmore Hall).

For her debut CD, Vanessa has chosen a demanding programme that displays her remarkable talents and exploits the expressive potential of the piano to the maximum. The repertoire spans just over 150 years – from Haydn’s dramatic minor key work of 1784, to Prokofiev’s 7th Sonata, the second of his three ‘War Sonatas’ completed in 1942.

Scriabin’s 1st Sonata was composed at a time of great personal turmoil rather than the international carnage of war. He had damaged his hand (possibly due to an extreme practising regime) and had abandoned his career as a soloist – a bitter blow to the young composer.

In contrast to all the Sturm und Drang of the three sonatas in her recital, Vanessa Benelli Mosell turns to Liszt for some southern European sunshine. The highly virtuosic Rhapsodie espagnole of 1863 demands fearsome technique from the performer, as the work traverses folk tunes from Iberia (Liszt noted these down during a tour in the 1840s) which are worked into a virtuoso set of variations.

Pascal Rogé said of Vanessa "...she is the most natural musical talent I have encountered in my entire life as a musician and teacher". Karlheinz Stockhausen invited her to study with him in Germany, and she worked closely with the composer until his death.