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Track(s) taken from CDA67506

Passacaglia in C minor, BWV582

composer
arranger

Hamish Milne (piano)
Recording details: October 2004
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Jeremy Hayes
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: May 2005
Total duration: 12 minutes 54 seconds

Cover artwork: Front illustration. Julie Doucet (b?)
 

Reviews

‘Milne plays the more outgoing works with the sharp articulation and gestural clarity that makes his Medtner so refreshing (his left-hand profile is especially notable)—and he gives the more restrained of the Siloti bonbons (wisely scattered throughout the disc) the delicacy they need. Good sound and excellent notes. All in all, a fine continuation of a most welcome series’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘This is a welcome return to the recording studio for a British pianist who has maintained a consistently high standard for many years. Hamish Milne is associated with Russian music, so he is a natural choice for a selection of Russian music transcriptions—Volume Five of a hopefully long series from Hyperion … If we buy this CD, more will surely be recorded, so don't hesitate, please’ (Pianist)
Catoire’s music is notable for its delicacy and harmonic refinement but, when faced with Bach’s mighty Passacaglia, he too adopts the epic style. In Eugen d’Albert’s better known transcription the music grows from a contained and dignified opening, but Catoire unleashes the mighty roar of the romantic instrument from the start (fortissimo pesante) and he is concerned throughout with the picturesque characterization of each individual variation through changes of texture and register. His determination, at the same time, that not one note of Bach’s should be lost in the process puts merciless demands on the performer.

from notes by Hamish Milne © 2005

La musique de Catoire vaut surtout par sa délicatesse et son raffinement harmonique, même si, confronté à la puissante Passacaille de Bach, il adopte, lui aussi, le style épique. Là où Eugène d’Albert, dans une transcription plus célèbre, fait croître la musique à partir d’un début contenu et digne, Catoire, lui, déclenche d’emblée le puissant rugissement de l’instrument romantique (fortissimo pesante) et se soucie constamment de caractériser avec pittoresque chaque variation, grâce à des changements de texture et de registre. Dans le même temps, sa détermination à ne perdre aucune note de Bach fait peser sur l’interprète d’impitoyables exigences.

extrait des notes rédigées par Hamish Milne © 2005
Français: Hypérion

Werke von Catoire sind bekannt für ihre Zierlichkeit und harmonische Feinheit, doch angesichts Bachs mächtiger Passacaglia nahm auch er den epischen Stil an. In der bekannteren Transkription von Eugen d’Albert bildet eine würdevolle, feierliche Geste den Anfang, die zum Ausgangspunkt eines stetigen Anwachsens der Musik wird. Catoire jedoch löst sofort einen gewaltigen Ausbruch des romantischen Instruments aus (fortissimo pesante) und konzentriert sich dann darauf, jede einzelne Variation mit Hilfe von verschiedenen Registern und Texturen auf besonders ausdrucksvolle Art und Weise zu charakterisieren. Gleichzeitig ist er sehr darauf bedacht, dass nicht eine Note Bachs verloren gehen möge, was gnadenlose Ansprüche an den Ausführenden stellt.

aus dem Begleittext von Hamish Milne © 2005
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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