Khatia Buniatishvili - Kaleidoscope - Mussorgsky, Ravel, Stravinsky (2016) Lossless

Khatia Buniatishvili's new recording Kaleidoscope, a unique combination of masterful and challenging pieces, shows her true virtuosic playing and features the well-loved Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, Ravel's La Valse and Stravinsky's Petruschka.

Given that these pieces all have an orchestral version, the pianist must bring out this larger palette of colours on a single instrument. Khatia does just that, painting her own picture of the pieces, how they are interwoven and the special characters she wants to emphasize.

There is a strong sense of character about the programme - it is music to be seen as well as heard, and it takes in other art forms as well: dance, puppetry and painting. The movement and colours of these other art forms are encapsulated in Khatia’s playing and the album’s title, Kaleidoscope.

Khatia will be on a worldwide tour to support the album, performing the centrepiece of the album, Pictures at an Exhibition. She will be performing in the UK in London and Reading in March 2016.

ABOUT KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI
Born on 21 June 1987 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Khatia Buniathisvili's extraordinary talent was recognized when she was very young. Aged six, she gave her début performance as soloist with an orchestra, and was subsequently invited to give guest performances across the world. Khatia prefers not to be regarded as a child prodigy: virtuosity for its own sake does not appeal to her. Above all, she embraces pianists from earlier generations such as Rachmaninoff, Richter and Gould. She admires her “favourite pianist”, Martha Argerich, for her uniqueness and, as a consequence, does not view Argerich as someone she should try to emulate.

Khatia Buniatishvili has been invited to play with many renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France under Daniele Gatti and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. She can also often be heard in performances of chamber music: in a trio with Gidon Kremer and Renaud Capuçon, and also with her sister Gvantsa.

In 2010 the multi-award winning pianist received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and was included in the BBC series on New Generation Artists.

The Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus nominated her as Rising Star for the 2011–12 season. A great acclamation in 2012 was the selection of Khatia Buniatishvili as Best Newcomer of the Year in the Echo Klassik awards.

Kaleidoscope is Khatia's fourth recording on Sony Classical after her outstanding debut with her Liszt recital in 2011, which was internationally celebrated ; "Not since Argerich have we heard such a triumphant début performance of the Liszt-Sonata" (Limelight Australia 2011).