ALEXANDER GOLDENWEISER (1875-1961): Piano Music, Vol. 1 - Contrapuntal Sketches, Op. 12, Sonata-Fantasia, Op. 37, Skazka, Op. 39.

Description: Teacher of, among others, Dmitri Bashkirov, Lazar Berman, Samuil Feinberg, Grigory Ginzburg, Kabalevsky, Kapustin, Tatiana Nikolayeva and Dimitri Paperno, Goldenweiser's composition teacher was Taneyev. That master contrapuntalist had his effect not only on Goldenweiser's compositions but on his playing style (and two of his students - Nikolayeva and Feinberg - were among the finest performers of Bach). The 24 Contrapuntal Sketches of circa 1932 are probably the first Russian polyphonic cycle embracing all the keys and are one of two precedents for Shostakovich's famous cycle. This work, lasting just under an hour here, is a monument of compositional and pianistic virtuosity. The other two works show another aspect of Goldenweiser's style - his affinity with Medtner (whose Sonata Reminiscenza main motif is used in varied form in the 1961 Skazka), Rachmaninov and Scriabin (the Sonata-Fantasia of 1958 combines key and somber mood with a more modern starkness of rhetoric and clear contrapuntal textures. Jonathan Powell (piano).