GEORGE ENESCU (1881-1955)

COMPLETE WORKS FOR SOLO PIANO • 3

JOSU DE SOLAUN

“This third and last installment of the complete works for piano by George Enescu features what one could call, in opposition to Rossini’s famous collection of pieces subtitled péchés de vieillesse (sins of old age), the Romanian composer’s péchés de jeunesse (sins of young age). However, these pieces, written in his very early days as a composer, show an audacity, breadth of purpose, and deep understanding of both Germanic and Gallic compositional traditions, that finds almost no equal with another composer of his age in the whole of the 19th and 20th centuries. Amidst Barcarolles, Romances, Preludes, Scherzos, and other such character pieces, a special favorite is the Suite Op. 3, written in what Enescu termed l’ancien style (the old style): Bach seen from the prism of turn-of-the-century Paris, a very different Bach indeed than the one we are now used to.” – Josu De Solaun

Winner of the George Enescu International Piano Competition 2014

About this Recording

This third and final volume dedicated to Enescu’s piano works shows the unique blend of influences he acquired during his teenage years in Vienna and Paris. These start with his Brahms-like treatment of the piano as a symphonic instrument in the Scherzo and Ballade to the infusion of French late-Romanticism and Fauré in the Impromptus. The crowning achievement of these early compositions is the Suite dans le style ancien, Enescu’s first public solo piano opus, a stylised evocation of Bach seen through the prism of turn-of-the-century Paris.

JOSU DE SOLAUN

Pianist JOSU DE SOLAUN is a First Prize winner of the XIII George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest (previous winners include the legendary pianists Radu Lupu and Elisabeth Leonskaja) and the XV José Iturbi International Piano Competition. He has been invited to perform in distinguished concert series throughout the world, having made notable appearances in Bucharest (Romanian Athenaeum), St Petersburg (Mariinsky Theatre), Washington DC (Kennedy Center), New York (Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera), London (Southbank Centre), Paris (Salle Cortot), Mexico City (Sala Silvestre Revueltas), and all major cities of Spain.