Composer: Fritz Kreisler, Ferencz Liszt, Sergey Rachmaninov, Robert Schumann, Alexander Scriabin, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Performer: Simon Bürki
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Aparté
Catalogue: AP317
Release: 2023
Size: 946 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Rachmaninov: Étude-Tableau, Op. 39 No. 1 in C minor
02. Schumann: In der Nacht, Op. 12 No. 5
03. Scriabin: Étude Op. 8 No. 11 in B flat minor
04. Tchaikovsky: Valse de salon in A flat major, Op. 51 No. 1
Rachmaninov: Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 39
05. No. 8 in D Minor (Allegro moderato)
06. No. 4 in B Minor (Allegro assai)
07. Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37b: October (‘Autumn Song’)
08. Rachmaninov: Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor
09. Rachmaninov: Étude-Tableau, Op. 39 No. 5 in E flat minor
10. Liszt: Liebestraum, S541 No. 3 (Nocturne in A flat major)
11. Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 No. 3 ‘Warum?’
12. Kreisler: Liebesleid
13. Rachmaninov: Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14
14. Rachmaninov: Lilacs, Op. 21 No. 5
15. Scriabin: Étude Op. 42 No. 5 in C sharp minor
16. Rachmaninov: Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor
The annotations for this Aparté release include a full-throated defense of the common fund of 19th and early 20th century piano music; “censors took a dim view of serving up little pieces bequeathed by the 19th century and the first years of the 20th, because of their ‘sentimentality,’ their ‘virtuosity.’ This era is over,” writes Alain Lompech. Yet this debut by pianist Simon Bürki, still a student at the Juilliard School when this album was released in 2023, still stands out a bit for its adherence to pure Romantic and post-Romantic favorites. Bürki places works by Rachmaninov, mostly from the Études-Tableaux, at the center of his program, delivering confident performances with an attractive bit of restraint. From there, he does indeed move into more sentimental pieces, including Rachmaninov’s arrangement of Fritz Kreisler’s evergreen violin piece Liebesleid and Liszt’s Liebesträume, a work that would have appeared on countless 19th century recitals but is perhaps a bit less common nowadays. He also includes the somewhat more modern Scriabin, performing him in a lyrical mood that emphasizes his Romantic rather than his experimentalist connections. It is an attractive collection, beautifully recorded at the Gustav Mahler Hall in Dobbiaco, Italy, and it makes one hopeful about future releases from the player.