Berceuse is a unique and imaginative collection recorded by the silver medalist of the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Anna Geniushene. In her own booklet introduction, the pianist explains the inspiration for this quirky collection of instrumental lullabies: the Berceuse is "associated with tenderness, care, purest love, and the most sensitive moments in our lives." She dedicates the album to her two young sons.
Debussy composed the Berceuse heroique during the First World War as a tribute to soldiers on the Western Front. The Berceuse elegiaque of Busoni is better known in its orchestral guise. The brief Berceuse by Hindemith; unpublished in his lifetime; "draws listeners’ attention by its utterly eloquent and typically sarcastic character; which has nothing in common with traditional lullabies." The sheer diversity of composers makes for a continually varied sequence. George Crumb evokes a magical night-time stillness with a minimum of notes. Mompou’s Berceuse is likewise remarkable for its distilled serenity; whereas the examples by Granados; John Field and Liszt bring comfort with more Romantically moulded melodies in the tradition of Chopin. Anna Geniushene closes the album with two Russian Berceuses, by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, each lyrical, simple, and utterly beguiling in her hands.
Available worldwide on physical CD!
Release: September 22, 2023
Duration: 65:03
Label: Piano Classics
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