Bach & Handel: Transcriptions for Piano Roberto Cominati

• Eugen d'Albert (1864 - 1932), George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759):
• 1 Chaconne in G Major, HWV 435 (Transc. E. d'Albert) 11:01
• Wilhelm Kempff (1895 - 1991), George Frideric Handel:
• 2 Minuet in G Minor, HWV 434 No. 4 (Transc. W. Kempff) 03:54
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886), George Frideric Handel: Sarabande und Chaconne aus dem Singspiel Almira von Händel, S. 181:
• 3 Sarabande und Chaconne aus dem Singspiel Almira von Händel, S. 181: Sarabande 09:25
• 4 Sarabande und Chaconne aus dem Singspiel Almira von Händel, S. 181: Chaconne 03:25
• George Frideric Handel, Moritz Moszkowski (1854 - 1925): Rinaldo, HWV 7:
• 5 Rinaldo, HWV 7: Lascia ch'io pianga (Transc. M. Moszkowski) 02:31
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750), Alexander Siloti (1863 - 1945): Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068:
• 6 Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068: II. Air ("On a G String") [Transc. A. Solti] 05:03
• Ignaz Friedman (1882 - 1948) , Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 (Transc. I. Friedman):
• 7 Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 (Transc. I. Friedman): Toccata 02:36
• 8 Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 (Transc. I. Friedman): Fugue 05:16
• Johann Sebastian Bach, Leopold Godowsky (1870 - 1938): Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 (Transc. L. Godowsky):
• 9 Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 (Transc. L. Godowsky): I. Prelude 03:41
• 10 Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 (Transc. L. Godowsky): II. Allemande 02:06
• 11 Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 (Transc. L. Godowsky): III. Courante 02:00
• 12 Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 (Transc. L. Godowsky): IV. Sarabande 03:48
• 13 Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 (Transc. L. Godowsky): V. Minuets I & II 04:35
• 14 Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 (Transc. L. Godowsky): VI. Gigue 03:20
• Ferruccio Busoni (1866 - 1924):
• 15 Chaconne, BV B 24 (After J.S. Bach's Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor) 13:45
• Total Runtime 01:16:26

Info for Bach & Handel: Transcriptions for Piano

When Johann Sebastian Bach died on 28 July 1750 in Leipzig, a great change in style in the music world was already underway. But even in the 19th century, not all of Bach's piano works were familiar, and Bach was seen more as a great teacher and less of an artist who was able to convey emotion through music. Therefore, transcriptions and arrangements had a prominent place in the concerts of composer-piano virtuosos. In this way, it was possible to programme well-known works or to occasionally present the public with rarities and also the pieces of other composers like Bach's contemporary George Frideric Handel. The virtuosos also referred to Bach himself, who arranged instrumental concertos for keyboard instruments for study purposes, but also repeatedly reused his own works, putting them into a different form. The question is how closely the arrangers of Bach's music – or Handel's – kept to the original. There are very faithful transcriptions as well as free adaptations, some even bordering on being new compositions. Some examples of the various types of Bach and Handel adaptations by composer-piano virtuosos – arrangements which range from compositions with large instrumentation and organ works to pieces for a single string or keyboard instrument – are found on this recording; with the greatest finesse up in the finest details performed by Roberto Cominati.

Roberto Cominati, piano

Roberto Cominati
Praised by Italian daily newspaper «La Repubblica» for his “stylistically flawless and mimetic piano technique”, Roberto Cominati won the first prize at the “Alfredo Casella” International Competition in Naples in 1991. In 1993 he came to the attention of critics and of the most renowned International concert halls when he won first prize at the “Ferruccio Busoni” Competition in Bolzano. In 1999 he was prized with the “Jacques Stehman” Audience Award by Belgian TV and French TV channel TV5, within the “Reine Elisabeth” Competition in Brussels.

In Italy he has been invited by some of the most prestigious musical institutions, like the Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the Festival Pianistico di Brescia e Bergamo, the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. He has also performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, at Salzburg’s Festival, at the Gasteig in Munich, at the Monnaie in Brussels, at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, and in many other halls in England, Belgium, Holland, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Finland, Japan, and Australia.

The conductors he has worked with include Sir Simon Rattle, Daniele Gatti, Andrej Borejko, Leon Fleisher, Daniel Harding, Yuri Ahronovitch, David Robertson, Mikhail Pletnev, Alexander Lazarev, Andrea Battistoni, Michele Mariotti, Juraj Valčuha, Sascha Goetzel, and Eliahu Inbal.

He has made recordings under Emi, «Suonare News», Acousence, and he has recorded the complete piano works of Ravel for «Amadeus».

The present season has Cominati performing at the Bratislava Festival, in Turin with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai conducted by Valčuha, in Palermo with the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo, at La Scala – where he will be interpreting a selection of works by Chopin for the ballet La Dame aux camélias – and then again in Milan with the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi, in New York with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam within the prestigious Meesterpianisten series, and in Bologna with the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale led by Mariotti.

He is presently recording the complete piano works by Claude Debussy, for the centenary of his death that will be celebrated in 2018.

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