Classical piano music: Igor Stravinsky

25 MP3 Songs
CLASSICAL: Piano solo

Details:
This CD is European export.

Moscow born and trained pianist Elena Kuschnerova, currently living in Germany, is the last discovery of Harold Schonberg (1915-2003), the former chief critic of the New York Times, and the only performing artist affiliated with great and controversial Russian composer Alexander Lazarevich Lokshin (1920-1987). She seems to be the only musician having its own Internet radio that hosts her entire output.

An independent classical musician, she is pursuing an impressive concert and recording career on her own. Elena released 8 solo piano CDs and 2 chamber-music CDs on different labels. In addition, many of her live recordings are available as digital downloads in her own downloads shop.

CD offered on this page has been recorded at the SWR radio station in Baden-Baden and released by the German label Ars Produktion. It contains all Stravinsky's piano solo output except for his early piano sonata. In particular, "Trois mouvements de Petrouchka" is marked by fluidity and genuine Russian spirit. It is a story-telling and not merely a technical display piece.

Harold Schonberg, the chief music critic of New Yourk Times and a famous author on pianists, praised this CD and her Scriabin CD on Ars Musici in two reviews in the American Record Guide. About this CD he wrote: "In short, a pianist who grabs the imagination". (Please, check the artist web site for the full text of this and other reviews.)

Elena's earlier Prokofiev CD on Ars Musici received German Record Critics' Award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) and later it was included into the list of the best 50 piano recordings "for a lonely island" by the German magazine SCALA.

Elena Kuschnerova's live Bach CD issued by Orfeo was given an all-stars review, as well as a rosette as a special honor, by the 2003/04 and 2005/2006 editions of the Penguin Guide to Classical CDs and DVDs.

Although not all of Kuschnerova's CD have been given attention by the music press, all of them are marked by her unimitable style that immediately strikes any unprejudiced ear. On the artist's web site you can explore all her CDs and other recordings, including free full-length streaming from "Elena Kuschnerova Classic Radio".

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