This album was recorded at the WDR Funkhaus, Klaus von Bismarck-Saal, Cologne, Germany, between October and December 2017.
Composer Biography
Vassos Nicolaou, the composer, and Tamara Stefanovich, the pianist, first met as students at the Hochschule für Musik in Köln, where they were both dedicated to their craft.
Composition History
The four-hand piece, Frames, was commissioned by the Klavier-Festival Ruhr as a wedding gift for pianists Tamara Stefanovich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard.
Compositional Technique
Vassos Nicolaou's Etudes explore forms made of complex rhythms, great speed, and multilayered sound, resulting in abrupt changes of dynamics and articulation.
Composition History
The 15 Etudes by Vassos Nicolaou were commissioned by the Klavier-Festival Ruhr and the Aldeburgh Festival, with several dedicated to pianist Tamara Stefanovich.
Performer Biography
Pianist Tamara Stefanovich commissioned Vassos Nicolaou to write the Etudes, describing his work as having an "immeasurably innovative freedom" and "structural integrity not seen since Ligeti's Etudes."
Composer's Artistic Vision
In his Etudes, Vassos Nicolaou focuses on specific ways of playing, geometrical-choreographical hand movements, and basic acoustical ideas, such as using the instrument's resonance.
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