IDAGIO | Sofia Gubaidulina - Figures of time 730099148733

Featuring

Titus Engel
Alice di Piazza
Basel Sinfonietta
NDR Bigband
Sofia Gubaidulina

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Historical Context

In the Soviet Union, Sofia Gubaidulina faced performance bans and financial hardship due to her iconoclastic and autonomous artistic attitude.

Composer Biography

Sofia Gubaidulina, born in 1931 in Tatarstan, lived near Hamburg from 1992 until her death in March 2025.

Performer Biography

Alice Di Piazza, the pianist on this album, is considered one of the most talented pianists of her generation and received a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Compositional Technique

Introitus, a piano concerto by Sofia Gubaidulina, is based on two central themes, one of which explores microtonality, chromaticism, diatonicism, and pentatonicism.

Critical Reception

Revue Music by Sofia Gubaidulina, with its mix of Orthodox chant, jazz, and Hollywood sounds, was considered outrageous in the USSR and its 1978 premiere was a scandal.

Recording & Production

This album features the first recording of Sofia Gubaidulina's 2016 revision of Introitus, a piano concerto, which was done in collaboration with pianist Alice Di Piazza.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Religious-spiritual symbolism and mysticism have characterized Sofia Gubaidulina's musical language from the beginning, for which she was criticized in the Soviet Union.