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Vladimir Sofronitzky Edition (Russian Archives) | Brilliant Classics 8975

Vladimir Sofronitzky Edition (Russian Archives)

New Item

Label: Brilliant Classics

Cat No: 8975

Barcode: 5029365897525

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 9

Genre: Instrumental

Release Date: 14th July 2008

This product has now been deleted. Information is for reference only.

Contents

Artists

Vladimir Sofronitzky (piano)

Artists

Vladimir Sofronitzky (piano)

About

Emil Gilels called Vladimir Sofronitzky ‘the greatest piano player in the world’. When he and Richter met, Sofronitzky declared ‘You are a Genius!’. ‘You are a God!’ came back the reply.

The latest in the acclaimed series of Russian Archive releases explores the legacy of Sofronitzky thanks to live recordings made at his concerts in Moscow and St Petersburg and rarely heard since, outside a coterie of devoted admirers.

He played a relatively small repertoire compared to the all-embracing enthusiasms of Yudina, Richter or Gilels: like Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, he devoted himself only to that music and those composers who chimed deep within him. That Chopin and Scriabin were first among them tells us much about Sofronitzky the man and musician: an archetypal Romantic, hypersensitive, gentle yet impassioned, uncomfortable with concerto collaboration, happiest when holding an audience in the palm of his hand. He played only in the big cities. He hardly ever toured abroad, content to remain within but apart from the Communist state.

His impulse for spontanous musical communication meant that he rarely entered the studio, and felt uncomfortable within it: to hear why his technically superb but heartfelt interpretations excite responses such as ‘transcendental’, the concert-hall recording is the most reliable and most thrilling guide.

Sofronitzky’s fiery and poetic responses to Chopin and Scriabin can be sampled here in abundance, but so can his mastery in Schubert – he is one in a line of great Russian Schubertians including Yudina, Richter and Afanassiev. In fact Yudina and Sofronitzky were students together and shared the Gold medal upon their graduation in 1921. On that occasion they both played the B minor Sonata of Franz Liszt, and Sofronitzky’s ideally flexible mastery of the Hungarian composer is evident in the selection from the Années de Pélèrinage on CD 7 of the present set.

Always at the mercy of a heart condition, Sofronitzky was the Suffering Artist par excellence, outwardly vulnerable but burning with genius. Going to a Sofronitzky concert, remarked Stanislav Neuhaus, was like going on a blind date: ‘anticipating something completely unknown, mysterious and wonderful, in other words, a miracle […] He approached the piano, and the magic began.’

These are fresh remasterings made especially for this set, with many recordings only previously released on ‘unofficial’ labels. Included are extensive booklet notes on the works and Sofronitzky’s responses to them, including a personal memoir written for the set by his daughter Viviana.

Live recordings made between 1946 and 1960.

Contents:
CD1

Scriabin
Piano Sonata No.3
Polonaise Op.21 · Preludes · Etudes · Poèmes

CD 2
Scriabin
Piano Sonatas 9 (“Black Mass”) & 10
Preludes · Poèmes · Mazurkas · Etudes

CD 3
Borodin:
Petite Suite
Prokofiev: Tales of an Old Grandmother
Rachmaninov: Moments Musicaux · Etudes-Tableaux

CD 4
Chopin
Mazurkas · Waltzes · Ballade No. 3 · Scherzo No. 1

CD 5
Chopin

Preludes Op. 28 · Polonaises Nos. 1 & 6 “Heroic” · Etudes

CD 6
Chopin:
3 Nocturnes
Beethoven: Piano Sonata Op. 28 “Pastoral”
Mendelssohn: Variations sérieuses Op. 54

CD 7
Liszt:
Années de Pélèrinage (selection)
Schubert/Liszt: Song transcriptions

CD 8
Schubert

Piano Sonata in B flat major D 960
Piano Sonata in A minor D 784

CD 9
Schubert:
Wanderer Fantasy
Schumann: Bunte Blätter Op. 99 (selection) · Carnaval Op. 9

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