THE GODOWSKY EDITION Volume V. Carlo Grante, piano.

Description

Romantic Transcriptions and Arrangements by Leopold Godowsky, performed by Carlo Grante, piano. Weber-Godowsky: Perpetuum Mobile (Rondo from the Sonata, Op. 24). Leopold Godowsky: Contrapuntal arrangement of Carl Maria von Weber’s Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65. Schubert-Godowsky: Ballet music from Rosamunde, D. 797; Moment Musical, D. 780, No. 3; Du bist wie eine Blume (A flower to me thou seemest), Op. 25, No. 24. Henselt-Godowsky Si oiseau j`etais (If I were a bird) Etude, Op. 2, No. 6. Leopold Godowsky Paraphrase de Concert on Chopin’s Waltz in E-flat Major, Op. 18; Concert arrangement of Chopin’s Waltzes– in D-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1; in A-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 3; in A-flat Major, Op. 69, No. 1; in F Minor, Op. 70, No. 2; in D-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 3; and Arrangement de Concert of Chopin’s Rondo in E-flat Major, Op. 16. Godard-Godowsky Canzonetta from Concerto romantique for violin and orchestra, Op. 35 [DDD] Total time: 76:30. UPC# 017685-118920

BUZZ: Carlo Grante is one of the most active and accomplished recording artists of his generation. His concert activity, which has brought him great acclaim in the major music centers of the world and as soloist with major orchestras, features a wide array of repertoire that includes many works of the present day.

An advocate of the music of Busoni, he has performed and recorded several of his works, some featured on the M&A releases. CD-1047 which includes the first recording of the youthful Concerto Op. 17 (1878); CD-1157, featuring works inspired by Bach including the recording premiere of Busoni’s “Trills Etude”; and CD-1186 in which Busoni’s magnum opus Fantasia Contrappuntistica is contrasted with Roman Vlad’s Opus Triplex (comp. 2001-2005). In March 2006, he performed Busoni’s monumental Concerto with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome under Fabio Luisi (“…a stunning performance, extremely precise and, also, ‘visionary,’ as required in the score, and… of exceptional freshness”, wrote Mario Bortolotto in Amadeus). He has been recording the complete solo piano works of Godowsky for Music & Arts, of which this CD is the fifth volume. Of the fourth volume, containing the Chopin-Godowsky Etudes, Julian Hayloch wrote in Classic FM (U.K.): “Anyone who has heard (or attempted to play) Chopin’s original études can hardly have failed to be blown away by their sheer technical effrontery and audacity. Imagine then what happens when someone creates a fresh series of études from the same material—but increases the difficulty by a factor of three…Carlo Grante… thrillingly captures the music’s sense of danger.” And John Sunier wrote in Audiophile Audition (U.S.): “Grante is a foremost concert pianist in Italy and recorded the studies once before, in 1993. He flies through the bewildering technical hurdles of Godowsky’s studies with ease—he must be as quick and perfect a learner as Godowsky was also said to be.”