R. Strauss: Piano Music / Stefan Veselka

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Release Date: 12/12/2006
Label: Naxos Catalog #: 8557713 Spars Code: n/a
Composer: Richard Strauss
Performer: Stefan Veselka

Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 1 Hours 8 Mins.

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Notes & Reviews	Back to Top

Richard Strauss' solo piano music dates from his teen years. Although the style often is derivative (warmed-over Mendelssohn, Weber, and Schumann) you can't deny the budding composer's assured, fluent, and utterly professional technique, along with his vibrant musicality and idiomatic keyboard grasp. You rarely encounter these works in concert, yet they're surprisingly well served on disc. Three diversely excellent "complete" cycles from Oleg Marshev (Danacord), Frank Braley (Harmonia Mundi), and Stefan Vladar (Koch Schwann) bear this out, not to mention Glenn Gould's recordings of the Op. 3 pieces and the B minor sonata. Naxos' Stefan Veselka acquits himself very well in such company. For example, his rounded phrasing and plush sonorities in the Op. 3 and Op. 9 cycles contrast to Braley's leaner, more transparent profile (you might say that Veselka is Arrau to Braley's Richter). He matches the robust qualities of Vladar's Sonata with added propulsion in the outer movements and bests Marshev's Scherzo movement for scintillation and suppleness. What's more, Naxos' modest price and fine sonics make this attractive release all the more recommendable. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com


Works on This Recording			Back to Top

1.	Pieces (5) for Piano, Op. 3 by Richard Strauss
	Performer: Stefan Veselka (Piano) Period: Romantic Written: 1880-1881; Germany	Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England Length: 24 Minutes 14 Secs.

	Notes: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England (04/03/2005 - 04/04/2005)


2.	Sonata for Piano in B minor, Op. 5 by Richard Strauss
	Performer: Stefan Veselka (Piano) Period: Romantic Written: 1880-1881; Germany	Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England Length: 23 Minutes 3 Secs.

	Notes: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England (04/03/2005 - 04/04/2005)


3.	Stimmungsbilder for Piano, Op. 9 by Richard Strauss
	Performer: Stefan Veselka (Piano) Period: Romantic Written: 1882-1884; Germany	Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England Length: 19 Minutes 16 Secs.

	Notes: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England (04/03/2005 - 04/04/2005)


Sound Samples				Back to Top

5 Piano Pieces, Op. 3, TrV 105 No. 1. Andante
5 Piano Pieces, Op. 3, TrV 105 No. 2. Allegro vivace scherzando
5 Piano Pieces, Op. 3, TrV 105 No. 3. Largo
5 Piano Pieces, Op. 3, TrV 105 No. 4. Allegro molto
5 Piano Pieces, Op. 3, TrV 105 No. 5. Allegro marcatissimo
Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 5, TrV 103 I. Allegro molto appassionato
Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 5, TrV 103 II. Adagio cantabile
Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 5, TrV 103 III. Scherzo: Presto
Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 5, TrV 103 IV. Finale: Allegretto vivo - Animato
Stimmungsbilder, Op. 9, TrV 127 I. Auf stillem Waldespfad (In Silent Forests)
Stimmungsbilder, Op. 9, TrV 127 II. An einsamer Quelle (Beside the Spring)
Stimmungsbilder, Op. 9, TrV 127 III. Intermezzo
Stimmungsbilder, Op. 9, TrV 127 IV. Traumerei (Reverie)
Stimmungsbilder, Op. 9, TrV 127 V. Heidebild (On the Heath)

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