ALEXANDRE TANSMAN (1897–1986)

11 INTERLUDES • HOMMAGE À ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN
2 PIÈCES HÉBRAÏQUES • 4 PIANO MOODS
PRÉLUDE ET TOCCATA • 6 CAPRICES
VISIT TO ISRAEL • ÉTUDE

GIORGIO KOUKL

‘It has been a pleasure to dig into the apparently bottomless treasure of never-played works of Alexander Tansman. A man of the world, yet bound with intimacy to his Polish origins, to his Parisian world and most of all to his Jewish roots, he was able to transform all these influences into something unique far better than any other composer. Unjustly neglected for far too long, his work is now on the rise and being rediscovered. I am happy to contribute to this rediscovery with the hope it will become a part of the piano repertoire.’ – Giorgio Koukl

Listen to an excerpt from Prélude et Toccata
Piano Recital: Szałucka, Anna - PADEREWSKI, I.J. / SZYMANOWSKI, K. / BACEWICZ, G. / GÓRECKI, H.M. and M. (A Century of Polish Piano Miniatures)
GP788
FRIEDRICH KUHLAU

About this Recording

The career of Polish composer Alexandre Tansman flourished in Paris after the First World War, though it’s only in recent years that it has begun to be explored in depth on disc. A refined but spiritually engaged neo-Classicism remained a constant feature of his music-making in Europe and in his temporary American exile, whether in the beautifully evocative travelogue Visit to Israel or in the clarity of the Interludes and Caprices.

11 INTERLUDES (1955) (14:00)
1
No. 1. Moderato (01:47)
2
No. 2. Allegro giusto (01:05)
3
No. 3. Lento (01:23)
4
No. 4. Andante (01:11)
5
No. 5. Allegro con brio (01:17)
6
No. 6. Moderato (01:11)
7
No. 7. Allegro con moto (01:19)
8
No. 8. Lento (01:50)
9
No. 9. Andante sostenuto (00:48)
10
No. 10. Moderato (00:46)
11
No. 11. Allegro moderato ma deciso (01:13)
HOMMAGE À ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN (1973) (04:25)
12
Tempo di Mazurka (02:01)
13
Toccata (02:24)
2 PIÈCES HÉBRAÏQUES (1955) (09:12)
14
No. 1. Invention (06:42)
15
No. 2. Berceuse juive (02:29)
4 PIANO MOODS (1944) (04:38)
16
No. 1. Andante cantabile (00:58)
17
No. 2. Vivace (01:02)
18
No. 3. Lento (01:22)
19
No. 4. Allegro meccanico (01:12)
PRÉLUDE ET TOCCATA (1943) (05:08)
20
Prélude: Andante sostenuto (01:46)
21
Toccata: Allegro molto (03:22)
6 CAPRICES (EXCERPTS) (1941) (08:28)
22
No. 1. Allegro ben ritmato (01:40)
23
No. 2. Moderato (01:48)
24
No. 3. Lento (02:33)
25
No. 4. Molto vivace (00:34)
26
No. 5. Andante cantabile (01:50)
VISIT TO ISRAEL (1958) (13:29)
27
I. Notturno: The Mysterious City of Sefad (01:09)
28
II. The Kibbutz (01:01)
29
III. The Ruins of Capernaum (01:06)
30
IV. The Sources of the River Jordan (00:52)
31
V. The Holy City (The Seven-armed Candelabra) (01:52)
32
VI. The Desert of Negev (01:40)
33
VII. The Mosque of Saint Jean d’Acre (00:59)
34
VIII. The Lake of Tiberias (01:16)
35
IX. Yemenite Cradle Song(02:00)
36
X. Popular Dance (Hora) (01:17)
37
ÉTUDE (STUDIO PER PIANOFORTE) (1967) (06:47)
WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING

TOTAL TIME: 66:21

Giorgio Koukl

GIORGIO KOUKL

Giorgio Koukl is a pianist/harpsichordist and composer. He studied at both the Conservatories of Zürich and Milan, where he took part in the masterclasses of Nikita Magaloff, Jacques Février, and Stanislaus Neuhaus, and with Rudolf Firkušný, friend and advocate of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů. It was through Firkušný that Koukl first encountered Martinů‘s music, prompting him to search out his compatriot’s solo piano works. Since then he has developed these into an important part of his concert repertoire and is now considered one of the world’s leading interpreters of Martinů‘s piano music, as a logical continuation of this work, Koukl has recorded the complete solo piano works of Paul Le Flem, Alexander Tcherepnin, Arthur Lourié, Vítězslava Kaprálová and Witold Lutosławski.

www.koukl.com
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