Gianluca Imperato, the pianist on this album, has won over thirty prizes at international piano competitions and is particularly committed to performing music by lesser-known composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Compositional Technique
Glière's 25 Preludes Op.30, composed in 1907, are technically demanding, featuring virtuoso elements like syncopated rhythms, double octaves, and chromatic movements.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Glière's piano compositions, particularly the 12 Sketches Op.47, relate more to the aesthetics of Decadentism with their languid, melodic chromatism, rather than Socialist Realism.
Composer Biography
Reinhold Glière taught composition at the Moscow Conservatoire from 1920 to 1941 and was president of the steering committee of the Union of Soviet Composers from 1939 to 1948.
Historical Context
Glière achieved considerable success in the Soviet Union from the 1930s onwards, winning the Stalin Prize three times, while composers like Shostakovich and Prokofiev faced ostracism.
Cultural Impact
Glière's ballet The Red Poppy (1927), which includes the Dance of the Russian Sailors, is credited with saving his fame from total oblivion after his death.
Composer Biography
Reinhold Glière, whose original surname was Glier, was first and foremost a violinist, yet devoted significant attention to piano compositions.
You might also enjoy...
Medtner: Piano Music Volume 1
Sacre: Piano Music, Vol. 2
Óscar da Silva: Piano Music, Vol. 1
Medtner: Works for Piano, Vol. 1
Malipiero: Complete Music for Solo Piano
The Vienna School: Teachers and Followers: Arnold Schönberg
Medtner: Piano Works, Vol. 7
Mompou interpreta Mompou, Vol. 4
Zimmermann: Complete Works for Piano
Medtner: Tales (Skazki) for Piano
Copland, A.: Rodeo / 4 Piano Blues / Old American Songs
