Alessandro Taverna - Debussy & Ravel: Piano Works (2017)

There was controversy when Alessandro Taverna won bronze at the Leeds International Competition in 2005 - many people thought he should have been awarded the gold. Since then, he's gone from strength to strength, as amply proved by this Medtner album on Somm, which features three of the composer's 14 sonatas - the Reminiscenza, the Romantica and the Minacciosa. The Reminiscenza and Romantica are both exemplary in their dynamic, emotional and architectural control. The Minacciosa's climactic fugue is breathtaking.'' (The Guardian, February 2015) The Guardian's was one of many warm reviews for Alessandro Taverna's debut album on SOMM. His playing on this second album attests to Taverna's close affinity to the music of Debussy and Ravel. He possesses a mesmerising palette of colors ranging from a seductive, ethereal touch in Ondine to ferocity and thrust in Scarbo - and what great brilliance and dynamism he brings to La Valse and I'isle Joyeuse.

TRACKLIST

01. Images, Book 1, L. 110: No. 1, Reflets dans l'eau
02. Images, Book 1, L. 110: No. 2, Hommage à Rameau
03. Images, Book 1, L. 110: No. 3, Mouvement
04. Images, Book 2, L. 111: No. 1, Cloches à travers les feuilles
05. Images, Book 2, L. 111: No. 2, Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut
06. Images, Book 2, L. 111: No. 3, Poissons d'or
07. L'isle joyeuse, L. 106
08. Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55: I. Ondine
09. Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55: II. Le gibet
10. Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55: III. Scarbo
11. Jeux d'eau, M. 30
12. La valse, M. 72 (Version for Piano)