Composer: Nikolay Lysenko
Performer: Arthur Greene
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0287
Release: 2015
Size: 590 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Grand morceau de concert, Op. 8 “1st Rhapsody on Ukrainian National Themes”
01. Chant triste, Op. Posth.
Album from the Summer of 1902, Op. 41
02. No. 1, Langueur et l’attente
Album from the Summer of 1900, Op. 37
03. No. 2, Chant d’amour
Rêverie, Visions of the Past, Op. 13
04. La rêve, Op. 12
Album from the Summer of 1901, Op. 39
05. No. 3, Élégie. La tristesse
Album from the Summer of 1902, Op. 41
06. No. 3, Élégie
07. Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 19
08. Nocturne in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9
09. Nocturne in B-Flat Major “Farewell”
10. Angoisse, Op. Posth.
11. Esquisse in the Dorian Mode, Op. posth.
3 Esquisses, Op. Posth.
12. No. 1 in A Major
13. No. 2 in B-Flat Minor
14. No. 3 in F Minor
Mykola Lysenko (1842–1912) is regarded as ‘the father of Ukrainian classical music’ but his music is virtually unknown outside his home country. As did Bartók later in Hungary, Lysenko went out into the field, listened to what the people were singing and fashioned an individual musical language that brought together the styles of Chopin and Liszt and the essence of Ukrainian folksong.
This first CD of two presenting his piano music should prove a revelation: the opening First Rhapsody on Ukrainian National Themes takes the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies as its model and adds lashings of folkloric charm.
It is complemented by a series of equally delightful miniatures, all recorded for the first time. This CD is launched together with another Toccata Classics CD, Mykola Lysenko – The Complete Music for Violin and Piano (TOCC 0177), in which Arthur Greene is joined by his violinist wife, Solomia Soroka.
The booklet contains commentary in both English and Ukrainian.
At a time when Ukraine is in the news for all the wrong reasons, here is a reminder of its proud cultural traditions.
Arthur Greene was born in New York and grew up in Sheffield, Mass.; he studied at Yale and Juilliard where he studied with Martin Canin. He now teaches at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He has made many recordings together with his wife, the violinist Solomia Soroka, for Naxos and Toccata Classics, the latter in music by Arthur Hartmann (TOCC 0089) and Myroslav Skoryk (TOCC 0137).