Before her professorship, Anna Vinnitskaya was the second woman ever to win the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.
Critical Reception
Brahms's Seven Fantasies Op. 116, with their reduced musical elements, inspired modern composers like Arnold Schoenberg but irritated contemporaries such as Hugo Wolf, who criticized Brahms for composing "without ideas."
Composition History
Brahms's piano transcription of Bach's D minor Chaconne for solo violin, featured on this album, was created in 1877.
Performer Biography
Anna Vinnitskaya was appointed Germany's youngest Professor of Piano Studies at the Musikhochschule Hamburg in 2009, at the age of just twenty-six.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Johannes Brahms, the composer featured on this album, moved away from the large-scale Beethovenian tradition in his later works, focusing instead on brief, lyrical forms.
Composer Biography
When Brahms composed his Eight Piano Pieces Op. 76 in 1878, he had not written for the piano for fifteen years, having completed his first two symphonies and the German Requiem during that time.
Compositional Technique
Brahms's transcription of the Bach Chaconne was restricted to being played with the left hand alone, a challenge he compared to Columbus's Egg.
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Brahms: Fantasias (Seven Piano Pieces), Op. 116; Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119
Brahms: 6 Pieces for Piano, Op. 118: VI. Intermezzo in E Flat Minor. Andante, largo e mesto
Brahms: Piano Works
Brahms
Brahms & Eröd: Piano Works
Brahms: Fantasias Op.116; Intermezzi Op.117; Piano Pieces Opp.118 & 119
