Release Date: 01 August 2019
Label: Bis / BIS Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 7318599923819
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Description
Winner of the 2009 Van Cliburn competition, Haochen Zhang is no stranger to a challenge. On this début concerto disc he proves this once more, boldly jumping in at the deep end as he takes on Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The demands posed by Prokofiev’s concerto are famous, starting with a huge cadenza already in the first movement. This may explain why the concerto was for a long time relatively unknown and, unlike the First and Third Piano Concertos, has only recently taken its rightful place in the repertory. The work was premièred by the composer himself in 1913, shocking the audience with its modernistic sounds and jagged rhythms. But even though Prokofiev was happy to nurture a reputation for badboy modernism, there is also a rich seam of Russian tradition which underlie his music from the beginning to the end of his career. It is therefore fitting that Haochen Zhang has chosen to complete the disc with one of the best-loved concertos from that tradition: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto in B flat minor. In both works, Zhang is supported by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its principal conductor, Dima Slobodeniouk.
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire; Sascha Goetzel
Oliver Barlow; Arlo Murray; Sergej Merkusjev; Joonas Ahonen; Barbara Kozelj; London Philharmonic Or
Masaaki Suzuki
Miklos Spanyi
NORWEGIAN SOLOISTS CHOIR
NICOLAS STAVY
Michael Collins; Isabelle van Keulen; Michael McHale
HUGHES/WATKINS
