Rathaus & Shostakovich: Piano Sonatas

Featuring

Vladimir Stoupel
Karol Rathaus
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Composition History

Karol Rathaus's First Piano Sonata, Op. 2 (1920), served as his entrance exam piece for the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he followed his teacher Franz Schreker.

Composer Biography

Due to the dangerous political situation, Karol Rathaus left Germany in 1932, living in Paris and London before immigrating to the US in 1938, where he became a composition professor at Queens College in New York.

Critical Reception

Karol Rathaus was celebrated by prominent German music critics, such as Walter Schrenk, as 'New Music's greatest hope' early in his career.

Composer Biography

Karol Rathaus, born in Tarnopol, Austria-Hungary, had his studies at the Vienna Academy interrupted by four years of service in the Austrian army during World War I.

Composition History

Dmitri Shostakovich premiered his Second Piano Sonata, Op. 61, himself on June 6, 1943, during World War II, dedicating it to the memory of his piano teacher Leonid Nikolayev.

Recording & Production

This album is a compilation by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne/Germany, with recordings of Rathaus from June 2013 and Shostakovich from June 2014, both made in the WDR Klaus-von-Bismarck-Saal in Cologne.

Performer Biography

Pianist Vladimir Stoupel has an extensive discography, including a highly acclaimed recording of the complete Scriabin Piano Sonatas, which received the Luxemburgian Excellentia Prize.