Balakirev: Piano Sonata & Other Works

Featuring

Danny Driver
Mily Balakirev
Mikhail Glinka

Did you know?

1/7

Compositional Technique

Balakirev's piano style, while influenced by Chopin and Liszt, is characterized by a 'big-boned grandiosity' that paradoxically resembles Anton Rubinstein, whose German origins were anathema to Balakirev's circle.

Performer Biography

Pianist Danny Driver first gained attention in the UK by winning both the Royal Over-Seas League Competition Keyboard Award and the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year Competition in 2001.

Composer Biography

Mili Balakirev was the only professionally trained musician and competent professional pianist among 'The Mighty Handful' (moguchaya kuchka), a group of Russian composers.

Composition History

Balakirev's Piano Sonata in B flat minor, the culmination of his piano output, was only completed in 1905, nearly fifty years after its student origins and five years before his death.

Critical Reception

Balakirev's Piano Sonata had a 'shadowy existence' until its first recording in 1951 by Louis Kentner, sponsored by the Maharajah of Mysore's Foundation.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Balakirev aimed to 'de-Germanify' the four-movement sonata cycle, which was viewed with suspicion by 'The Mighty Handful' due to its Germanic associations.

Compositional Technique

Balakirev's Piano Sonata begins with the unorthodox technique of a fugal exposition, exploring the relationship between strict fugue and free rhapsody.