Joachim Raff - Piano Works Vol. 4 (Tra Nguyen)

Information

Composer: Joachim Raff

• (01-13) La cicerenella, Op. 165
• (14-25) 12 romances en forme d'etudes, Op. 8
• (26) 2 pieces, Op. 166: No. 1. Idylle: Andante
• (27) 2 pieces, Op. 166: No. 2. Valse champêtre: Allegro
• (28) Allegro agitato, Op. 151

Tra Nguyen, piano
Date: 2014
Label: Grand Piano
http://www.grandpianorecords.com/Album/AlbumDetails/GP653

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Review

Raff wrote a copious amount of piano music, so this remains a long way off being a 'complete works' series. Whether or not it is really the last this time, this latest disc juxtaposes a substantial work from Raff's youth, the 12 Etude-Romances, and a trio of shorter pieces from his maturity. With Raff, however, it makes little difference where on his timeline the pianist or listener alights – the music is uniformly engaging, brilliant, lyrical. Indicatively, the composer has afforded the shorter works opus numbers too – salon pieces they may be in a sense, but very well written ones brimming with musical adventure and virtuosic demand.

The much longer Douze Romances is rightly the centrepiece of Tra Nguyen's recital. Divided into two albums and recalling both Chopin and Schumann, it is, in annotator Mark Thomas's words, “clear to see why Mendelssohn was so impressed by these products of a 21-year-old who had never had, and never was to have, any formal musical training.”

Nguyen has already shown herself a worthy champion of this oeuvre. Volume 1, her debut solo recording, made an auspicious start, and by now, more than two years on in a career in which Raff has often been the focal point of her recitals, she understands this music like no other. With the substantial technical requirements easily met, she is able to concentrate on creating an expressive Shangri-la for the listener, drawing nurturing warmth, half-forgotten memories, romance and a kaleidoscope of hues and fragrances from Raff's enchanting scores.

Both La Cicerenella and Douze Romances have been recorded rather low – the master volume could have been easily doubled without any danger of distortion. Nevertheless, audio quality is very good, as the listener has come to expect from Grand Piano – a little on the dry side at worst.

Thomas's trilingual booklet notes are, as in previous volumes, extremely readable and informative. The cover art is great news for fans of Norwegian artist Gro Thorsen – another one to add to this effectively free collection of prints. Those less enthusiastic of his brand of gloomy urban snapshot are unlikely to experience a Damascene conversion from this particular issue. By now, however, there should be no waverers when it comes to either Raff or Nguyen.

-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International

More reviews:
http://www.raff.org/records/reviews/piano/16.htm
http://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=GP653&languageid=EN

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Joachim Raff (May 27, 1822 – June 24 or June 25, 1882) was a German-Swiss composer, teacher and pianist. He worked as Liszt's assistant at Weimar from 1850 to 1853, helping in the orchestration of several of Liszt's works. From 1878 he was the first Director of, and a teacher at, the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, where he employed Clara Schumann and a number of other eminent musicians as teachers. His pupils there included Edward MacDowell and Alexander Ritter. Raff was very prolific, and by the end of his life was one of the best known German composers, though his work is largely forgotten today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Raff

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Tra Nguyen is a British-Vietnamese pianist. Tra made her first solo performance at the Hanoi Grand Opera House when she was ten and has continued to engage audiences in other prestigious venues worldwide. Tra Nguyen studied with Lev Naumov in Moscow Conservatory and with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where she received the academy’s highest award for her final recital. Her imaginative programming balances core repertoire and lesser-known music, winning critical praise. Her discography introduces many world première recordings of neglected music.
http://www.tranguyen.org/

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