Composer: Frédéric François Chopin, Franz Joseph Haydn, Ferencz Liszt, Olivier Messiaen, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexander Scriabin, Dmitri Shostakovich, Carl Vine
Performer: Alexander Gadjiev
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Catalogue: ELQ4856488
Release: 2021
Size: 242 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Haydn: Keyboard Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI: 48
01. 1. Andante con espressione
02. 2. Rondo. Presto
03. Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52
Messiaen: Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus
04. 15. Le baiser de l’Enfant-Jésus
Scriabin: 3 Morceaux, Op. 45
05. 1. Feuillet d’Album
Shostakovich: Preludes and Fugues for Piano, Op. 87
06. Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in E Minor
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83
07. 1. Allegro inquieto
08. 2. Andante caloroso
09. 3. Precipitato
Vine: 5 Bagatelles
10. 5. Threnody (For All The Innocent Victims)
Liszt: 10 Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173
11. 7. Funérailles
Alexander Gadjiev, winner of the 2021 Sydney International Piano Competition, makes his debut recording for Decca (Australia) on the Eloquence New Series imprint, devoted to brand new recordings. Carrying off the Ernest Hutcheson First Prize but also an additional six prizes at the 2021 Online Edition of the Sydney International Piano Competition, the young Italian-Slovenian pianist was also winner of the 2018 edition of the Prix Ranieri 111: Monte-Carlo Piano Masters (Monte Carlo, Monaco) and, in 2015, First Prize and Audience Award winner at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (Hamamatsu, Japan).
More recently, he was selected for the 20192021 BBC New Generation Artists Scheme, which provided opportunities for him to perform in many of the major festivals and series in the UK, both in recital and as soloist with the BBC orchestras, and to record regularly for BBC Radio 3.
In demand as a soloist with orchestras, and as a recitalist, Gadjiev has also performed in the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Great Hall of Ljubljanas Philharmonie, La Fenice in Venice and the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory.
He seems to have not only extraordinary musical sensitivity and intelligence, but practicality, awareness of promoters needs, the ability to think from various angles, facility in several languages, and a grasp of history and underlying connections in the world of arts and ideas. He has already made impressive inroads into a busy international concert pianists career and seems happy in his own musical skin, commented Piers Lane AO, Artistic Director of the Sydney International Piano Competition.
Mark Coughlan, one of the judges at this years Competition, commented: Alexander Gadjiev is a pianist of considerable refinement and an outstanding musical communicator. He maintains an excellent sense of line in lyrical passages, shaping with subtlety and finesse. Even in the most powerful climaxes his playing never loses its elegance. His Liszt playing swept the audience on an exhilarating musical journey.
Alexander Gadjievs repertoire for this CD of live performances ranges from Haydn to Vine, including some exquisite Scriabin, atmospheric Messaien, thrilling Prokofiev all shaped with sensitivity and elegance.
Alexander Gadjiev is that rarest of pianists and musicians: he combines virtuosity, control, intelligence, imagination, the ability to communicate with his audience.