Ilja Hurnik - Debussy: Arabesques, Estampes, Images, Children´s Corner - Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales (2012)

Tracklist

01. Deux arabesques, .: Andantino con moto
02. Deux arabesques, .: Allegretto scherzando
03. Estampes, .: Pagodes
04. Estampes, .: La soirée dans Grenade
05. Estampes, .: Jardins sous la pluie
06. Images, .: Reflets dans l´eau
07. Images, .: Hommage á Rameau
08. Images, .: Mouvement
09. Images, .: Cloches a travers les feuilles
10. Images, .: Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut
11. Images, .: Poissons d´or
12. Chidren´s Corner, .: Doktor Gradus ad Parnassum
13. Chidren´s Corner, .: Jimbo´s Lullaby
14. Chidren´s Corner, .: Serenade for the Doll
15. Chidren´s Corner, .: The Snow is Dancing
16. Chidren´s Corner, .: Shepherd Boy
17. Chidren´s Corner, .: Colliwogg´s Cake-Walk
18. Valses nobles et sentimentales, .: Modéré-trés franc
19. Valses nobles et sentimentales, .: Assez lent-avec une expression intense
20. Valses nobles et sentimentales, .: Modéré
21. Valses nobles et sentimentales, .: Assez animé
22. Valses nobles et sentimentales, .: Presque lent-dans un sentiment intime
23. Valses nobles et sentimentales, .: Assez vif
24. Valses nobles et sentimentales, .: Moins vif
25. Valses nobles et sentimentales, .: Épilogue. Lent



This year's ninetieth birthday finds Renaissance man Ilja Hurník still in possession of remarkable strength and vigour. After recently terminating his career as a pianist, he has gained more scope for devoting to composing and writing. Hurník studied the piano with pedagogues of such renown as V. Kurz, I. Štěpánová-Kurzová and V. Novák and has given numerous concerts abroad (including a four-hand performance with Pavel Štěpán), with his interpretations of Debussy and Janáček being particularly captivating. He has given back to Janáček the earthiness and crispness resulting from the Lachian dialect and purged Debussy of the "Impressionistic mist" and accumulated layers of brush strokes, turning the audience's attention to the compositions' subtle drawing and structure. When listening to the presented recordings, one will be hard pressed indeed to believe that they were made a full half-century ago. Hurník's ninetieth birthday is an appropriate opportunity to recall them: their first release on CD, in a carefully remastered version, will certainly be welcomed not only by his contemporaries.

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [flac]