Pianist Denis Matsuev is known as an exemplar of the power and flash of the Russian school, and those qualities are certainly on display here. Hear the rumbling bass-fueled climax in the Concerto for piano and string orchestra, Op. 136, of Alfred Schnittke, a crowd-pleasing work not as often heard as it should be. Or the explicitly virtuosic Variations on a Theme of Paganini by Witold Lutoslawski, in a punchy arrangement for piano, strings, and percussion by Alexander Warenberg. However, there's more to his style on this ...
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Pianist Denis Matsuev is known as an exemplar of the power and flash of the Russian school, and those qualities are certainly on display here. Hear the rumbling bass-fueled climax in the Concerto for piano and string orchestra, Op. 136, of Alfred Schnittke, a crowd-pleasing work not as often heard as it should be. Or the explicitly virtuosic Variations on a Theme of Paganini by Witold Lutoslawski, in a punchy arrangement for piano, strings, and percussion by Alexander Warenberg. However, there's more to his style on this Deutsche Grammophon release, which effectively pairs the brash Piano Concerto No. 1 for piano, trumpet, and strings in C minor, Op. 35, by the young Shostakovich, with the Schnittke and the Lutoslawski, both from the late 1970s and both right at the point where the composers began to find their way back to audiences. Matsuev offers a lovely lyrical interlude in the slow movement of the Shostakovich, and the shifting Romantic moods of the Schnittke are beautifully evocative. There are...
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