Charles Gounod - Works for Pedal Piano & Orchestra (Roberto Prosseda)

Information

Composer: Charles Gounod

• (01) Suite concertante in A major
• (05) Concerto for pedal piano in E flat major
• (09) Fantaise sur l'hymne national russe
• (10) Danse roumaine

Roberto Prosseda, piano
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Howard Shelley, conductor

Date: 2013
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67975

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Review

Prosseda and Shelley explore Gounod’s pedal piano output

Gounod’s complete works for pedal piano and orchestra is not something the musical world has been waiting for with bated breath. Yet, like an item in one of those gift catalogues full of things you never knew existed but suddenly seem essential, it proves to be a real winner. It is also among the very jolliest of piano-and-orchestra recordings to come my way for some time. The music may have the depth of a puddle but it has no pretensions to be anything else than audience ear-ticklers. Being Gounod, it is supremely well-crafted melodic music but the kind of material that can collapse like a soufflé without the right cast to show it in its best light. I’ve heard recordings of his Fantasy on God save the Tsar so dreary you can understand why the last one was shot. Not here. Hyperion’s cast is top-drawer.

Normally, the pedal piano as championed by Schumann, Alkan and others is an integrated piano with pedal keyboard. Here, Roberto Prosseda plays the newly conceived Pinchi pedal piano system which combines two Steinway D grands placed one on top of the other. It is hard to distinguish between the bass of the left hand and what is being played on the pedals. The titles of the Suite concertante’s four movements (1886) describe exactly the music’s flavour: ‘Entrée de fête’, ‘Chasse’, ‘Romance’ and ‘Tarentelle’. The unpublished Concerto (1889), again in four short movements, is another charmer with an especially touching, Schubertian slow movement, beautifully played by Prosseda. The finale and the 1888 Danse roumaine (with hints of JS Bach) give the hands and feet plenty to do. Given exactly the right light touch and deft execution, abetted by Howard Shelley’s stylish accompaniment, Gounod’s box of bonbons is an unexpected delight.

-- Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Jan14/Gounod_pedal_piano_CDA67975.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/07/gounod-pedal-piano-orchestra-review
https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/gounod-complete-works-for-pedal-piano-prosseda/
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/gounod-works-for-pedal-piano-and-orchestra-1.1593654
https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-romantic-piano-concerto-vol-62-gounod-the-complete-works-for-pedal-piano-orchestra-mw0002587280
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gounod-Complete-Orchestra-Prosseda-Hyperion/dp/B00FBE9470

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Charles Gounod (17 June 1818 – 17 October or 18 October 1893) was a French composer. He attended the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied under Fromental Halévy and Pierre Zimmerman. Gounod is best known for his Ave Maria, based on a work by Bach, as well as his opera Faust; another opera by Gounod still performed is Roméo et Juliette. Though his reputation began to fade even before he died, he is still generally regarded as a major figure in nineteenth century French music. Stylistically, he was a conservative whose influence nevertheless extended to Bizet, Saint-Saëns, and Massenet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Gounod

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/charles-gounod-mn0000153981/biography

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Roberto Prosseda (born 1975) is an Italian classical pianist. He studied at the Conservatorio Ottorino Respighi in Latina, the Accademia Pianistica "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola and the International Piano Foundation in Cadenabbia (Lake Como, Italy), and has won major prizes in several piano competitions. Prosseda is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Felix Mendelssohn. He also dedicated the early part of his career to the discovery of piano works by several neglected Italian composers. Prosseda is a radio host on RAI, an author and a producer of documentaries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Prosseda
https://www.robertoprosseda.com/

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