Composer: Selim Palmgren
Performer: Jouni Somero
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Grand Piano
Catalogue: GP868
Release: 2021
Size: 228 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Concert Etude in C, SP142
Contrasts, SP43
02. No. 1, Les adieux
03. No. 2, Arlequin
04. Waltz in a Western Finish Style, SP326
05. Spring Haze, SP136
Piano Pieces, Op. 32
06. No. 1, Im Walzertakt
07. No. 2, Auf dem Wasser
08. No. 3, Im Polkatakt
Preludes, Op. 84
09. No. 1, Preludietto
10. No. 2, Prelude-Nocturne
11. No. 3, Prelude-Caprice
Preludes, Op. 17
12. No. 1, Andante
13. No. 2, In Folk Style
14. No. 3, Allegretto con grazia
15. No. 4, Tempo di valse
16. No. 5, Presto
17. No. 6, Sarabande. Andante cantabile
18. No. 7, Un poco mosso
19. No. 8, Allegro feroce. Furioso
20. No. 9, Cradle Song. Tranquillo
21. No. 10, In Folk Style. Andante semplice
22. No. 11, Dream Picture. Vibrato
23. No. 12, The Sea. Allegro feroce
24. No. 13, Veloce
25. No. 14, Pesante
26. No. 15, Round Dance. Con grazia
27. No. 16, Andante con moto
28. No. 17, Allegro agitato
29. No. 18, Duo. Rubato
30. No. 19, Bird Song. Allegro giocoso
31. No. 20, In Memoriam. Lugubre
33. No. 21, Un poco mosso
33. No. 22, In Folk Style
34. No. 23, Venezia. Malinconico
35. No. 24, The War. Allegro marziale
Selim Palmgren, a student of Busoni, was one of the most prominent Finnish composer-pianists of his time, and his pieces for pedagogical use such as Kevätauerta (‘Spring Haze’) are still popular today. This programme reveals Palmgren’s versatility to the full, with the Deux contrastes describing opposite poles of melancholy and joyous playfulness, and the dreamy Prelude-Nocturne a jazz-tinted reminiscence of 1920s America. Displaying a wide variety of technical and stylistic challenges, Palmgren’s 24 Preludes also features one of the first examples of Impressionism in Nordic piano literature. Jouni Somero, is one of the most active performers among present Finnish musicians. He has given over 3,100 concerts in many countries worldwide. He studied piano in Switzerland and at the Music Academy in Cologne under Professor Herbert Drechsel, and, under the legendary Hungarian pianist Georges Cziffra, he deepened his knowledge of the interpretation of Liszt’s music. Michael Ponti, the American virtuoso, has also acted as Somero’s musical advisor. Jouni Somero’s recording career began in 1989 (with Liszt’s 12 Transcendental Études), after which he has made over 100 recordings for different labels, including Naxos. His wide repertoire includes all the solo piano works of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Bortkiewicz, as well as seldomly heard music by, among others, Alkan, Godowsky, Rubinstein, Reinhold, Godard, Cui and Gottschalk.