Ferruccio Busoni, the composer, was the only child of a clarinettist father and a pianist mother, and made his piano debut in Trieste in 1874.
Busoni's Fantasia after J.S. Bach is not a transcription or paraphrase, but a 'Nachdichtung' — a 'translation' of a musical text into another medium.
The essence of Busoni's music lies in synthesizing his Italian and German heritage, combining emotion and intellect, and imagination with discipline.
Wolf Harden, the pianist on this recording, co-founded the Trio Fontenay in 1980 and has toured with them to major music centers worldwide.
Busoni regarded his Elegien, composed in Vienna in 1907, as the point where he discovered his true identity as a composer.
Wolf Harden is known for his affinity with unusual repertoire, being the first to record a complete version of Hans Pfitzner's piano concerto.
Busoni's harmonic and tonal innovations were tied to a re-creative approach to the past, which has only recently gained currency.
