Composer: Emil Frey
Performer: Luisa Splett
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0339
Release: 2016
Size: 223 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
4 Klavierstücke, Op. 12
01. No. 2. Berceuse
4 Klavierstücke, Op. 20
02. No. 1. Humoreske
03. Variationen uber ein Rumanisches Volkslied, Op. 25
Sonata dramatica in D Minor, Op. 27
04. I. Allegro non troppo ma appassionato
05. II. Largo espressivo
06. III. Andante – Allegro con fuoco
Kleine Slawische Suite, Op. 38
07. I. Praludium
08. II. Mazurka
09. III. Kasatschok
Piano Suite No. 6, Op. 66
10. No. 4. Passacaglia
The music of the Swiss pianist-composer Emil Frey (1889–1946) is dark, dramatic, exciting – and completely unknown. His works reflect the stages of his career: study with Fauré, friendship with Enescu, teaching in pre-Revolutionary Russia and mature familiarity with developments back in Western Europe.
One work on this CD, the Variations on a Romanian Folksong, dates from his time (1910–12) as court pianist to King Carol I of Romania. Frey’s music has not yet been given any sustained exposure in recordings, and this first survey of his piano music – played by the person who knows it best – reveals a virtuoso’s understanding of the instrument and a sense both of drama and of fun.
Luisa Splett is an internationally recognised Swiss pianist. Born in Winterthur in 1983 to a family of musicians, she launched her piano career at the age of five and gave her first solo performance at seven. After a first degree in Zurich, in 2007 she moved to Saint Petersburg for postgraduate studies under the tutelage of Oleg Malov at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatoire. Since October 2012 she has lived in Berlin as an independent artist and teacher. Beside her performing career, she is working on a dissertation at the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK) on Emil Frey and his pedagogical influences on the pianists of his time and beyond.