This set of George Enescu’s solo piano music traces a fascinating musical arc from his precocious years in Vienna and Paris, where he absorbed Brahmsian and French late-Romantic influences, notably in the Impromptus, to the brilliantly mercurial Piano Sonata No.3. Whether in the Pièces impromptues, eloquent character pieces, or in the oceanic Piano Sonata No.1, Enescu remains, in Pablo Casals’ words, “the greatest musical phenomenon since Mozart”, his unique musical language embracing Bach as well as the abiding vitality, and melancholy, of his native Romanian folk music.

As a First Prize winner of the XIII George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest, the Spanish pianist Josu De Solaun has been invited to perform in distinguished concert series throughout the world, having made notable appearances in Bucharest (Romanian Athenaeum), Venice (Teatro La Fenice), St Petersburg (Mariinsky Theatre), Washington, DC (Kennedy Center), New York (Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera), Princeton (Taplin Hall), London (Southbank Centre), Paris (Salle Cortot), Leipzig (Schumann Haus), Taipei (Novel Hall), Mexico City (Sala Silvestre Revueltas), Prague (Nostitz Palace), and Rome (Academia de España). He is the only pianist from Spain to win the Enescu and Iturbi competitions in their respective histories, and was invited to a private reception with the King and Queen of Spain at the Royal Palace after winning the coveted Bucharest prize. Josu De Solaun is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music.

‘Full recommendation for these completely outstanding albums, thanks to the indisputable merit of a communicator who is so thoroughly engaged with the music he plays.’ – Scherzo