About this Recording
About this Recording
Maltese composer Karl Fiorini (b. 1979) is a European without frontiers – the compositions in this album reflect his early detachment from a Mediterranean identity towards a more varied and intense sound world. Trio Lamina features elements of Bartók’s ‘night music’ in its complex sub-sections, whereas Fiorini’s two piano studies, which predate his move to Paris, already exude a Gallic ambience. Influenced by North African folk music, the Piano Trio expands his global reach, and the Piano Sonata, a gritty virtuoso concert piece, shifts geographical influence towards Eastern Europe to powerful effect. All of these world première recordings were recorded in the presence of the composer.
‘Although we both come from a tiny island country where there are scarcely two degrees of separation, it was only as postgrads in London that our paths, Charlene’s and mine, intersected. We knew and respected each other’s work. Now, more than a decade of musical collaboration later, there hasn’t been one note that I haven’t shared with her. This recording was the next natural step, our individual paths variously bringing us in touch with clarinettist Dimitri Ashkenazy, violinist Rebecca Raimondi and cellist Stefan Kropfitsch, sound engineer Georg Burdicek, and producer Ateş Orga. A richly fruitful European collaboration, the seven of us making music one magical summer weekend in the Konzerthaus, Vienna.’ – Karl Fiorini
