ALEXEI KURBATOV (b.1983): Lost in Darkness, Op. 34, EVGENI CHAPLYGIN (b.1943): Little Cyprian Music, Op. 37, PETER TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893): 6 Pieces on a Single Theme, Op. 21, MILY BALAKIREV (1837-1910): Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor.

Description: Kurbatov's fifteen-minute cycle of seven short pieces evokes the impressions of childhood innocence, conjuring a mood of evening wistfulness. The scene is a forest at night, the theme one of faded memories of childhood long past vanishing into the woods. The idiom is very tonal, spiced with mild dissonance, and the set's one brief passionate outburst is reminiscent of Rachmaninov. Chaplygin's short piece was inspired to a visit to Cyprus, evoking the atmosphere of the place and the middle-eastern tinged melodies and rhythms of the folk music in a series of brief episodes loosely organized in a free fantasia with some impressively bravura piano writing. The Tchaikovsky Morceaux are a comparative rarity, six diverse character pieces all based on the same theme, very similar in style to the much better-known Seasons from a few years later, and with some intriguing pre-echoes of the first piano concerto which followed almost immediately. Vadym Kholodenko (piano).