Alexander Melnikov - Four pianos, Four Pieces (2018) [CD Rip]

Recordings of modern piano interpretations of Franz Schubert's Wanderer-Fantasie, Frédéric Chopin's Etudes, Op. 10, Franz Liszt's Réminiscences de Don Juan, and Igor Stravinsky's Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka are plentiful, though the movement for historically informed performances is increasingly influencing how these works are received. For this 2018 Harmonia Mundi release, Alexander Melnikov presents these core repertoire pieces on four different pianos, matching each to an instrument of the proper vintage. Thus, Wanderer-Fantasie is played on a Graff piano, ca. 1828-1835, constructed within a decade of Schubert's death; the Etudes are executed on an Érard from 1837, built in Chopin's lifetime; and the Rémniscences are rendered with the power and refinement of a Bösendorfer from 1875, which Liszt would have known well. Only the Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka is played on a modern piano, a 2014 Steinway grand piano that was built 43 years after Stravinsky's death. Melnikov has the talent and skill to play idiomatically, with brilliant technique and passion, giving the music considerable excitement while conveying its historical flavor. While Melnikov's probing performances may not suit all, anyone who has an interest in the piano's development will find this album a revelation. Highly recommended. ~ Blair Sanderson