Illia Ovcharenko - Whispers and Thunder (2025) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Scarlatti Keyboard Sonata in B Minor, Kk. 87
02. Liszt Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178
03. Scarlatti Keyboard Sonata in B Minor, Kk. 27
04. Silvestrov 3 Bagatelles, Op. 1 No. 1, Allegretto
05. Revutsky 3 Preludes, Op. 4 No. 1 in D-Flat Major. Lento
06. Revutsky 3 Preludes, Op. 4 No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor. Presto
07. Silvestrov 3 Bagatelles, Op. 1 No. 2, Moderato
08. Revutsky 3 Preludes, Op. 4 No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor. Andantino
09. Revutsky 2 Preludes, Op. 7 No. 2 in B-Flat Minor
10. Revutsky 2 Preludes, Op. 7 No. 1 in E-Flat Major
11. Silvestrov 3 Bagatelles, Op. 1 No. 3, Moderato
12. Revutsky Piano Sonata in B Minor, Op. 1

First encountered the 24-year-old Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko back in 2022 when he won the New York International Piano Competition. He also won that year’s Honens International Piano Competition, where he played an excellent Liszt B minor Sonata that can be found on YouTube. Ovcharenko has recorded the Liszt for this splendidly executed and smartly programmed solo debut for Steinway & Sons that includes works by Scarlatti and fellow Ukrainians Valentin Silvestrov and Levko Revutsky.

Ovcharenko begins with a hearty and lustrous rendition of Scarlatti’s frequently played B minor Sonata, Kk87, replete with variants in voicing in the A‑section repeat. The Liszt Sonata follows, and it recaptures the sweep, confidence, fiery dynamism and organic poetry of the pianist’s Honens performance, albeit in state-of-the-art sound and with the advantage of studio editing. Yet it still sounds like a real performance, with each idea and each section naturally emerging from what came before. The pianist’s strong attention to bass lines and left-hand accents doesn’t hurt, either. In essence, the music easily accomodates both Ovcharenko’s rhetorical distensions at certain phrase ends and his impulsive yet never crude accelerations in the heat of the moment.

By contrast, Ovcharenko’s Scarlatti B minor Sonata, Kk27, is surprisingly careful, although such gentle understatement perfectly befits the disarming simplicity of Silvestrov’s Bagatelles, Op 1 Nos 1 and 3. However, this album’s real revelations are to be found in the works by Silvestrov’s teacher, Levko Revutsky (1889-1977). The selections from his sets of Preludes, Opp 4 and 7, wouldn’t be out of place in similar collections from the young Scriabin or Rachmaninov. It’s not the most original music, yet Revutsky was a memorable tunesmith and his piano-writing is idiomatic, with lush textures that never clog up or overload. His early B minor Sonata, Op 1, in one movement, teems with impassioned virtuosity and increased harmonic sophistication as the music progresses. Needless to say, Ovcharenko has the temperament and the means to bring Revutsky’s style vividly to life, and one might say that he plays with iron hands cloaked in mink gloves. The Sono Luminus Studios production team headed by producer Dan Merceruio provide superb sound. We’ll be hearing more from Illia Ovcharenko, and I look forward to following this gifted pianist’s artistic journey.

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