Wolf Harden, the pianist on this album, is known for his versatility and his special affinity for unusual repertoire, having recorded complete versions of works by Hans Pfitzner, Ernő Dohnányi, Franz Lehár, and Ferruccio Busoni.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The essence of Busoni's music lies in its synthesis of Italian and German ancestry, combining emotion and intellect, imagination and rigour.
Composer Biography
Ferruccio Busoni, born in 1866, was the only child of a clarinettist father and a pianist mother.
Interpretation
Busoni took a very liberal approach to original texts in his editions, such as changing the order and omitting variations in Bach's Goldberg Variations to 'enhance the work'.
Composition History
Busoni's Klavierübung ('Piano Exercise'), which was first published in its entirety in 1922, was a main focus of his final years, alongside his unfinished opera Doktor Faust.
Composer Biography
Busoni made his debut as a pianist in Trieste in 1874 and later studied with Carl Reinecke in Leipzig on the suggestion of Johannes Brahms.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Busoni's harmonic and tonal innovations combine with a recreative approach to the musical past, making his music neither inherently conservative nor demonstratively radical.
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