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CD Review | Canadian Scenes: New Works for Oboe & Piano (Leaf Music, 2023)

By Kristen Whittle on 6 October 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Piano, Winds

Canadian Scenes: New Works for Oboe & Piano Charles Hamann, oboe; Frédéric Lacroix, piano Leaf Music, June 2023 Five works for oboe and piano were commissioned by oboist Charles Hamann for this album, which depicts various aspects of Canadian identity. In collaboration with pianist Frédéric Lacroix (who also wrote one of the pieces on the album), Hamann sought to capture various aspects of Canada’s landscapes, and asked each composer to write a piece using nature as an inspirational starting point. Over the course of the album’s genesis, changes in climate and environment impacted the way works panned out. In the…

CD Review | Femmes de légende (Atma Classique, 2023)

By Viktor Lazarov on 6 October 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Piano

Femmes de légende Élisabeth Pion, piano Atma Classique, May 2023 Quebec pianist Élisabeth Pion’s album opens with limpid, fluid and warm playing. A magnificent symbiosis between the pianist and the skilful writing of French composer Mélanie “Mel” Bonis (1858-1937), Femmes de légende reveals charm, colour and effervescence in both Pion’s playing and the repertoire itself. A pianist whose name has been on the Quebec and international music scene for some years now, Pion asserts her undeniable talent in this album. As its title suggests, Bonis’s work is inspired by literary and mythological heroines, and bears all the hallmarks of French…

CD Review | Goldberg Variations (Deutsche Grammophon, 2023)

By Justin Bernard on 6 October 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Piano

Goldberg Variations Víkingur Ólafsson, piano Deutsche Grammophon, October 2023 This Icelandic pianist knows Johann Sebastian Bach like the back of his hand. In his latest album for Deutsche Grammophon, Víkingur Ólafsson tackles a work that is as revered as it is feared by young performers. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about for almost 25 years, which is most of my life,” he confides at the launch. It took him 10 years to tame the Goldberg Variations and finally make this giant of the piano repertoire his own. For a long time, he aimed to find his own voice, his own…

Godwin Friesen (Photo by Antoine Saito)

Godwin Friesen (piano) – Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Grand Prize Winner, Barbara Bronfman Prize

By Kristen Whittle on 6 October 2023 Montreal, Music Competition, Piano

Université de Montréal student Godwin Friesen was pleasantly surprised at the awards ceremony for the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal’s Barbara Bronfman Prize. When the announcer revealed that Friesen was the first-prize winner, he said his “mouth dropped open.” This pianist’s genuine reaction stemmed from equally humble beginnings. Friesen grew up in an extremely musical household and was even part of a family band. From a young age, he was taught that music is about community, something he believes to this day. Indeed, he seeks “to be someone whose musical performances impact many people, inspiring change and hope.” A storyteller at…

CD Review | Martha Argerich Live/ Volumes 13-17 (Doremi Records, 2023)

By Paul E. Robinson on 6 October 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Piano

Martha Argerich Live/ Volumes 13-17 Martha Argerich, piano DOREMI DHR-8201-12 For many years now, Jacob Harnoy has been producing a remarkable series of live Martha Argerich CDs on his label, DOREMI, and this latest batch includes one unforgettable performance after another. While Argerich has made dozens of recordings, mostly in-studio for Deutsche Grammophon, the Argentinian pianist is best appreciated live. Her electric live performances of the Chopin and Schumann concertos, conducted by Klaus Tennstedt (Volume 15), or the two-piano version of Ravel’s La Valse interpreted with the late Nelson Freire, recorded in Amsterdam in 1980, are a testament to this.…

CD Review | Theme: Variation (Leaf Music, 2023)

By Viktor Lazarov on 6 October 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Piano

Theme: Variation David Rogosin, piano Leaf Music, 2023 Released in March 2023 by Leaf Music, Theme: Variation features a selection of popular and lesser-known keyboard and piano variations performed by Mount Allison University professor David Rogosin. Beginning with works by late Renaissance/early baroque composers Orlando Gibbons and Jan Pieters Sweelinck, Rogosin moves through four centuries of music by composers such as Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Babbitt, rounding the album off with postmodern variations by Kevin Morse, a fellow Mount Allison professor. The opening chords reveal Rogosin to be a refined and articulate pianist, with a lovely touch and delicate…

Emmanuel Laforest

Emmanuel Laforest (piano) – Canadian Music Competition Grand Prize Winner

By Eva Stone-Barney on 6 October 2023 Music Competition, Piano

This year, pianist Emmanuel Laforest took home the grand prize in the 19-to-30-years-old category at the Canadian Music Competition. A native of Saint-Sulpice, Que., the young pianist is currently a student at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, where he works with Richard Raymond. Laforest first started playing piano at just 7 years old. His childhood teachers included Paul Surdulescu and Jean-Luc Cholette. After high school, he went to CÉGEP for music, where he studied with Marie-Claude Bilodeau. His goal, he says, is to “evolve, as a complete artist, and share my love for music.” So far, these goals have…

Seokyoung Hong

Seokyoung Hong (piano) – Cliburn Junior Competition Winner

By Kristen Whittle on 6 October 2023 Music Competition, Piano

Korean pianist Seokyoung Hong is a natural performer. His success at the Cliburn Junior Competition is a testament to this, as is his clear love for sharing music from the stage. According to Hong, the spontaneity of performance is what he enjoys most. “Sometimes I don’t even know what I will play on the stage,” he said, adding: “Of course concerts are prepared and practised, but I make choices while playing.” Hong was faced with numerous performance opportunities at the Cliburn competition, which consisted of four rounds. He played a different program in each. Highlights included Liszt’s Concert Étude No.…

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (piano) – Paloma O’Shea Santander Competition Winner

By Kristen Whittle on 6 October 2023 Music Competition, Piano

Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko has made monumental strides in his musical career this past year. Alongside winning the Paloma O’Shea Santander Competition, he recently completed his Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of British Columbia, studying with Corey Hamm. Izik-Dzurko also spent the year performing in renowned concert halls the world over (Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, to name a few). Playing for international audiences is one of Izik-Dzurko’s professional goals, which he is well on his way to achieving. During his time in Spain, he premièred a…

Jeremy Denk (Photo from the Jeremy Denk website)

Newswire | Jeremy Denk Announced as the Ihnatowycz Chair in Piano at The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School

By Newswire on 4 October 2023 Newswire, Piano, Toronto

Toronto, October 4, 2023 – Internationally acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk has joined The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School as the School’s new Ihnatowycz Chair in Piano. A frequent performer at Carnegie Hall, he has appeared in recent seasons with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra, as well as on tour with Academy St. Martin in the Fields, and at Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. The Ihnatowycz Chair in Piano at The Glenn Gould School nurtures the artistic development of students in the Ihnatowycz Piano Program which was…

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