IGNAZ FRIEDMAN (1882-1948)

ORIGINAL PIANO COMPOSITIONS

JOSEPH BANOWETZ

“Ignaz Friedman (1882 - 1948) was without question one of the greatest pianists who ever lived.  His recordings are artistic milestones, and have been major inspirations for all pianists.  But unaccountably his own compositions have remained relatively ignored, so for this reason I felt it a duty and challenge to record a number of his original works that had not for the most part been recorded before.  The Opus 27, 61, 71, 79, and Viennese Dances are wonderful examples of Friedman's Romantic compositional style and command of effective keyboard display.  It has been a privilege to record them!”

– Joseph Banowetz

About this Recording

Virtuoso pianist Ignaz Friedman’s compositions have long been neglected but they possess great melodic beauty and harmonic inventiveness. Grouped into sets of character pieces, they exude the haunting melodies of late-Romanticism. The lush inventiveness of the Vier Klavierstücke, Op. 27 finds time for Polish folkloric inspiration whilst Stimmungen, Op. 79 – dedicated to his friend Rachmaninov – is pensive, passionate, serious and colourful. Strophes reflects Friedman’s love of Grieg, as well as the abiding influence of Vienna.

JOSEPH BANOWETZ

Grammy® nominated American pianist JOSEPH BANOWETZ has been heard as recitalist and orchestral soloist on five continents, with performances with such orchestras as the St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Moscow State Symphony, the Prague and Bratislava Radio Orchestras, the Budapest Symphony, the Barcelona Concert Society Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony, the Beijing National Philharmonic, the Shanghai Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Seoul Philharmonic. Banowetz is also well known as an author. His book The Pianist’s Guide to Pedalling (Indiana University Press) has to date been printed in seven languages. He is a graduate with a First Prize from the Vienna Akademie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, and his teachers have included Carl Friedberg (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and György Sándor (a pupil of Bartók).