Linkages - Piano music by Brahms, Wagner, Schönberg a.o.

Although the works on this new cd are very different, they are unified by a wealth of unexpected relationships and subtle interconnections. You try to experience these musical linkages. Bringing these works together in one programme allows them to be heard differently by the listener – both as parts of a whole and as individual pieces in their own right. The sequence of the works and the transitions between them are chosen intentionally. The programme contains piano music from a period of 102 years (1861 to 1963). The journey from Romanticism to Modernism is paved with moments of restlessness and of tranquillity, flowing cantabile passages and fragmentary structures, unrestrained ecstasy, daring musical experiments and – “une ardeur profonde” (Scriabin), a deep glow. “Moving with the times whilst remaining aware of the past. Correlating tradition and progress without playing them off against each other. Finding creative possiblities for expanding the repertoire and realising unconventional programme ideas in order to present new alternatives to the mainstream. These are some of the challenges which preoccupy me as a pianist nowadays.” (Martin Tchiba)