Four Fantasies features the music of Scriabin, Schumann, Beethoven and Chopin played by pianist Anna Fedorova on Channel Classics. It is a DSD Exclusive, Not Available on SACD release.
We all have fantasies which we love to dive into. On this Album, I will be diving into the fantasy worlds of several of the most celebrated composers. In music, the ‘fantasie’ is one of the freest genres and each composer explores it in his own way.
For this Album I have chosen some of my favorites. The recording opens and closes with two fantasy-sonatas (‘Sonata quasi una Fantasia’ ). In it there is a beautiful symmetry, as well as a common ‘moonlight’ theme. In Beethoven’s case the name ‘Moonlight’ was given to his sonata op. 27 no. 2 posthumously by the German music critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab (and although Beethoven had no such intention for this, the name really stuck to it). As for Scriabin’s sonata it’s quite a different story. We know from his notes that he worked on the piece during his honeymoon in Crimea and that he took his inspiration from a beautiful quiet night while sitting and admiring the sea view in the light of a full moon.
Of the two other fantasies on this album, the Fantasy op. 49 by Chopin, a piece which has been so long in my repertoire, is a most profound, powerful and dramatic work. There is a deeply intense and powerful struggle for survival throughout the piece, starting with a marche funebre at the beginning, followed by a pure chorale-prayer in the middle and to close, a heavenly recitative of the soul.
The ‘central’ work on this recording is Schumann’s Fantasy op. 17, which I had been in love with long before I started playing it. Schumann wrote the first movement when he had fallen madly in love with Clara but couldn’t be with her because of her father’s objections. There is so much passion, tenderness, hope and frustration, agitation and calmness in this music. The second and third movements were composed somewhat later – the second being a celebration in a glorious and positive spirit, while the third travels to an extra dimension. It is simply the music of heaven.
All together the four fantasies make a really beautiful and varied program which I do hope everyone will enjoy!
Anna Fedorova, Pianist
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 01:12:15
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | 41318 |
| Qualities | DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, DXD 24 Bit, FLAC 192 kHz, FLAC 96 kHz |
| Channels | 2ch Stereo, 5 Channel Surround Sound, 2ch Stereo & 5ch Surround |
| Artists | |
| Composers | |
| Genres | |
| Amplifiers | van Medevoort, Holland |
| Cables | Van Den Hul |
| Digital Converters | DSD Super Audio/Horus-256FSPyramix Editing/Merging Technologies |
| Executive Producers | Michiel Boreel, Nicholas l Lhasz, Stanislas Cozon, Shigeki Nakauchi, Anne Catuogno, Jerzy Czubak, Yann Rotaru Jacqui and Howard Schwartz, Jane and Walter Feddersen, Shanna Sullivan |
| Mastering Engineer | Jared Sacks |
| Microphones | Bruel & Kjaer 4006, Schoeps |
| Mixing Board | Rens Heijnis, custom design |
| Instruments | |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Producer | Jared Sacks |
| Recording Engineer | Jared Sacks |
| Recording location | Big Hall, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, The Netherlands (July 2018) |
| Recording Type & Bit Rate | DSD 256 |
| Speakers | Grimm LS1 |
| Special Thanks To | Bart Rijckaert, Raul Ornelas, Alexei Borchevski, Richard S. Wright, Arjen te Nijenhuis, Natalya Goryacheva and to all anonymous donors. |
| Tuner | Charles Rademaker |
| Release Date | August 31, 2018 |
Press reviews
Positive Feedback
Subtle, graceful, nuanced—these were the first adjectives the popped into my mind as I listening to the opening of Anna Fedorava’s gorgeous performance of the Scriabin Sonatano with which this album begins. Then, as the music progressed: well judged dynamic contrasts, excellent shifts in tempo, delicacy coupled with power. (…) The whole of the album has a shimmering intensity. Fedorova grabs hold of one’s attention and does not release—a tremendously engaging recital from start to finish.
Audiophile Audition
[Beethoven]: (…) Federova’s delivery of the arpeggiated, sequential chord literally shimmers with sensitive inflection, studied, thoughtful, and emotionally compelling, given the dreamy, improvisatory character of the first movement. (…) fortissimi and sforzati project a potent, unapologetic energy. Liquid runs, a defined bass line, and seamless roulades define a most gratifying rendition of perhaps the most over-performed of all piano sonatas, but here in refreshed figures.
Luister
A beautiful poetic narrative style. What is clear. The common thread (all fantasies) is not only thought through, the interpretations are the same.
Gramophone – High Fidelity Section
An exciting set of solo works played by Anna Feferova, captured with superb concert-hall atmosphere by Dutch label Channel Classics.
Gramophone
An exciting set of solo piano works played by Anna Fedorova, captured with superb concert-hall atmosphere by Dutch label Channel Classics.
Klassieke Zaken
Wenneke Savenije
Een welluidende ode aan de fantasie (…) Pianomuziek is haar moedertaal en die
natuurlijke vertrouwdheid met de piano geeft Fedorova de instrumentale vrijheid om
zich emotioneel helemaal onder te dompelen in de Four Fantasies op deze cd. (…)
Ook de verfijnde opnametechniek verdient alle lof.
De Gelderlander – 5 stars
Maarten-Jan Dongelmans
(…) Stemmingswisselingen en rijke kleurschakeringen worden optimaal in
kaart gebracht (…)
(…) Mood swings and rich color nuances are optimally performed (…)
Opus Klassiek
(…) de goed gedoseerde spanningsopbouw, de kleurenrijkdom die zij in haar spel legt, de fraaie fraseringen, de overtuigende agogiek, de pulserende ritmiek zonder nodeloos afleidende accenten en de dynamische proportionaliteit.
The well-dosed tension build-up, the richness of colors that she puts into her playing, the beautiful phrasing, the convincing agogics, the pulsating rhythm without unnecessary distracting accents and the dynamic proportionality.
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