Échos: Chopin, Granados & Albéniz

Featuring

Charles Richard-Hamelin
Enrique Granados
Frédéric Chopin
Isaac Albéniz

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Composer's Artistic Vision

The album features works by Chopin, Granados, and Albéniz, chosen for their rich melody, refined harmony, and fantasy, interweaving poetry and dance.

Performer Biography

Charles Richard-Hamelin, the pianist on this album, won the silver medal and the Krystian Zimerman Prize at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Isaac Albéniz's La Vega, inspired by the plain of Granada, uses refined harmonies and extreme dynamic variations to evoke a painter's use of color, with the piano keys as brushes.

Composition History

Enrique Granados's Allegro de concierto, Op. 46, won first prize in a 1903 competition, beating a young Manuel de Falla, who received an honorable mention.

Performer Biography

Charles Richard-Hamelin is the youngest recipient of the Prix Denise-Pelletier, Quebec's highest distinction in performing arts.

Composition History

Chopin's Allegro de concert, Op. 46, was originally conceived as the first movement of a third piano concerto, but was eventually completed as a solo piano work.

Historical Context

Enrique Granados and his wife died when their ferry, the Sussex, was torpedoed by a German submarine less than three weeks after his last public performance at the White House in 1916.