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FRANZ LISZT (1811–1886) Sonetti del Petrarca Preludes, Book 2 (1912–13) (38:30) From Années de pèlerinage— 1 I. (2:50) Deuxième Année: “Italie” (c.1837–49) 2 II. Feuilles mortes (3:00) 1 Sonetto No. 47: 3 III. La Puerta del Vino (3:05) Benedetto sia ‘l giorno (5:41) 4 2 IV. “Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses” Sonetto No. 104: (3:08) Pace non trovo (6:07) 5 3 V. Bruyères (3:03) Sonetto No. 123: 6 I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi (7:38) VI. “Général Lavine”— excentric (2:32) 7 VII. La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune (4:20) (1862–1918) 8 Preludes, Book 1 (1909–10) (40:20) VIII. Ondine (3:28) 9 4 IX. Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. I. Danseuses de Delphes (3:08) (2:19) Cedille Records is a trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation devoted to promot- 5 ing the finest musicians and ensembles in the Chicago area. The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation’s activities are sup- II. (3:41) bk X. Canope (3:14) 6 ported in part by contributions and grants from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies including III. Le vent dans la plaine (2:01) bl XI. Les tierces alternées (2:28) the Alphawood Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis Foundation, NIB Foundation, Negaunee Foundation, 7 Sage Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (CityArts III Grant), and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. IV. “Les sons et les parfums tournent bm XII. Feux d’artifice (4:23) Contributions to The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation may be made at www.cedillerecords.org or by calling 773-989-2515. dans l’air du soir” (3:33) 8 V. Les collines d’Anacapri (3:10) 9 LISZT Producer James Ginsburg VI. (4:43) bn bk Les d’eau à la Villa d’Este (1877) (7:12) Engineer Bill Maylone VII. Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest (3:17) bo Vallée d’Obermann (1848–54) (13:30) bl Graphic Design Melanie Germond VIII. La fille aux cheveux de lin (2:35) 24 bm Cover Photo Peter Schaaf IX. La sérénade interrompue (2:24) TT: (59:30) bn X. La Cathédral engloutie (6:19) Recorded August 28 & 29, 2006 (Debussy) and February 8 & 9, 2007 (Liszt) at WFMT Chicago bo XI. La danse de Puck (2:38) Microphones Sennheiser MKH 40, Schoeps MK 21 Jorge Federico bp XII. Minstrels (2:08) Steinway Piano Piano Technician Charles Terr OSORIO TT: (60:04) piano CDR 90000 098 P&C 2007 Cedille Records, trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. All Rights Reserved. WHAT DID THE WEST WIND SEE . . . descriptive “Four Seasons” violin concertos, fication — that all forms of art spring from Debussy knew how Schumann and Liszt had . . . and does it tell us anything with image-filled sonnets attached. Basically, similar sources and inspirations. Thus poetry, translated landscapes and legends into strik- about the music? though, Bach concerti, Haydn symphonies, painting, sculpture, dance, music, and drama ing character-pieces for piano and adapted and Beethoven string quartets are pieces were all related. Romantic-era composers their techniques to his own style: a keyboard of music that are simply about themselves. such as Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt, Mahler, sound that involves more diffuse melodic We must agree that the beauty of a work Their interest lies in the manipulation of and Richard Strauss were no lesser musical patterns, more chromatic harmonies, and of art will always remain a mystery, in other melodies and rhythms; in the decoration, craftsmen than their Classical predecessors, more complex rhythmic structures. Above words we can never be absolutely sure “how it’s harmonization, and development of basic and their works can be analyzed and under- all he was fascinated with the sound of the made.” We must at all costs preserve this magic themes; and in key relationships and modu- stood in strictly musical terms. But they and piano — its whole extended range from which is peculiar to music and to which, by its lations. The works are not intended to have others of their time added another dimen- highest to lowest, the ways its pedals can nature, music is of all arts the most receptive. extra-musical meaning, but to be heard and sion, another level of interest: the evocation change the quality of the tone color, the — Claude Debussy appreciated strictly on their own terms. of moods and emotions, the depiction in brilliance to be achieved with fast runs, the quoted by biographer Roger Nichols instrumental sonority of natural scenes and power of huge chords, all the resonance Abstract music (or what some academic snobs of the metaphors of poetry. of this very powerful instrument. This fas- The mind in creation is as a fading coal which have called “pure” music) did not die out with cination with piano sound seems to have some invisible influence, like an inconstant the advent of Romanticism in the 19th cen- Claude Debussy, a post-Romantic, shows his inspired the creation of his two books of wind, awakens to transitory brightness; this tury, or with the proliferation of approaches skepticism of his forerunners’ ideas when he Preludes at least as much as any poem or pic- power arises from within, like the colour of that has characterized the 20th and 21st points out “this magic which is peculiar to ture referenced in the pieces’ individual titles. a flower which fades and changes as it is centuries. But a parallel trend emerged from music.” He recognized that, in the end, music In fact, Debussy placed his preludes’ titles at developed, and the conscious portions of our the change of attitude ushered in by the is different from other arts. It is sound that the end of each piece, not the beginning, natures are unprophetic either of its approach Romantic movement. Romantics in all the produces meaning from itself, from the inter- which suggests they were, to some extent at or its departure. artistic disciplines sought to discover the nal relationships of intervals, the movement least, afterthoughts. The Preludes are, essen- — Percy Bysshe Shelley connections between humankind and the of rhythms, and the timbre of the instru- tially, experiments in sound: What are the “The Defence of Poetry” natural world, and between present life and ments used to play it. He appreciated, at the possibilities of chromatic harmony and non- the past (often an idealized past, a “golden same time, the influence that extra-musical traditional scales? How can Spanish-guitar age,” to which they longed to return). They stimuli can have on composition: the echo sounds, music-hall tunes, and dance rhythms Instrumental music of the Baroque and placed prime emphasis upon emotion rather of an especially evocative line of poetry, be incorporated into piano miniatures? What Classical eras can be characterized as abstract than what they saw as cold rationalism. They sunlight on the sea, the glow of moonlight, colors can the black-and-white keys call forth — with limited exceptions, such as Vivaldi’s came to believe — with considerable justi- the special colors and shadings of a painting. in the listeners imagination?

4 5 Since musical talent usually reveals itself very sonority and using the sounds of his instru- Liszt expresses these unsettled emotions in More than half a century separates the pub- early in life, it’s not surprising that Franz Liszt ment to evoke romantic yearning. part by straying almost constantly between lication of Liszt’s first two “Années de pèleri- was a child-prodigy pianist. By his twenties, major and minor modes. The piece’s agitated nage” books (1852, 1856) and the appearance he was an internationally-famous virtuoso Sonetto 47 begins with the word “Benedetto” opening indicates the poet’s mental turbu- of Debussy’s Preludes, of which Volume One who was already becoming known as a com- (Blessed): lence; its improvisatory nature conveys the appeared in 1910 and Volume Two in 1913. poser. An interruption to his early career Blessed be the day, the month, the year sense of a mind (and heart) passing through During this time, musical language changed came in the form of Countess Marie d’Agoult, The season, the time, the hour, the moment a rapid progression of contrary moods; and considerably. In contrast to Liszt’s keyboard the first of the two great loves of his life, with The lovely scene, the spot where I was put in thrall all this is reinforced by chromatic harmo- sonnets, Debussy’s indefinite harmonies and whom Liszt escaped the public eye for sev- By two lovely eyes which have bound me fast. nies used much more prominently than in evanescent melodies sound decidedly mod- eral years in the mid-1830s, on an extended Sonetto 47. Yet to conclude this declamatory ern and different. He drew their titles, and tour of Switzerland and Italy, reveling in The lyrical opening melody gradually storm of feeling, Liszt writes a quiet ending. perhaps their inspiration, from sources as the beauties of nature and art. He created becomes more passionate, and the basic varied as sculpture, drawings, legends, the a sort of musical diary, or travelogue, based diatonic harmony becomes more chroma- Sonetto 123 opens quietly, in reference to world of nature, and poets from Shakespeare on his impressions of the sights along the tic, as the poet and composer reflect on Petrarch’s vision of angels; he then compares to the French Symbolists. Another major way. These took their final form, after much the joy they derive from contemplation of this glimpse of heaven with the sight, once influence was the realm of dance music. revision and afterthought, in two volumes of the beloved. A highly chromatic cascade of more, of Lady Laura’s lovely eyes, this time “Danseuses de Delphes” (Delphic Dancers) is colorfully descriptive piano pieces he called chords adds to the mood of agitation. This shedding tears. This sonnet has a very direct, in the rhythm of a slow Baroque sarabande, “Années de pèlerinage” (Years of Pilgrimage). instrumental sonnet is essentially monothe- very “singing” main theme, which after a sim- possibly reflecting a sculpture from ancient In the second set, “Italy,” he collected virtuo- matic, achieving variety through Liszt’s char- ple statement is elaborated in the piano’s Greece (housed in the Louvre?). It’s a gentle sic pieces inspired by paintings he’d admired acteristic use of thematic transformation: highest register before being restated in the opening for the first book of Preludes, full of in Florence and Rome and by two of medi- constant, subtle variations that modify the middle range. With ever-increasing elabora- mild and ruminative chords. eval Italy’s literary masters, Petrarch and same melody. tion, and a great deal of fast finger-work, a tre-

Dante. Three pieces in the second volume mendous chordal climax first descends, then “Voiles” may be translated as either Sails In Sonetto 104, “Pace non trovo,” Petrarch were originally composed as songs: a trio of rises to the heights again. Through all the or Veils; but whichever you envision, the sets up a series of contrasts: Petrarch’s sonnets in praise of his beloved virtuosic passage-work, however, the theme music triumphs through its air of mystery. Laura. In their keyboard form, the Sonetti del I find no peace, but for war am not inclined that represents Laura and love remains audi- To achieve this, Debussy incorporates two Petrarca reveal their origin as vocal pieces in I fear, yet hope; I burn, yet am turned to ice . . . ble. In conjunction with the word “Dolcezza” unconventional scale patterns whose echoes their frank lyricism. They also display Liszt’s Eyeless I gaze, and tongueless I cry out . . . (Sweetness) in the sonnet’s final line, Liszt cre- will be heard throughout the Preludes. particular genius for exploiting keyboard I feed on grief, yet weeping, laugh. ates a peaceful coda full of yearning. The whole-tone scale produces an exoti-

6 7 cally amorphous, unresolved sound. It can tury French poem. Poetry is also the source trast to the frozen, muffled sound of “Neige.” calm after the stormy “west wind.” The title be reproduced on the piano keyboard by for the title of Prelude #4, “Les sons et les Whatever the west wind might have seen, it comes from one of poet Leconte de Lisle’s playing middle C followed by D, E, F-Sharp, parfums tournent dans l’air du soir,” a line carries threats with it. Penetrating trills and “Scottish Songs.” G-Sharp, and A-Sharp/B-Flat. Since each inter- from Baudelaire. Sounds and scents whirling powerful chords dominate the texture; dis- val is equal, no one tone stands out with in the evening air; the atmosphere is similar sonant bass-register crashes are contrasted “La sérénade interrompue” (Interrupted special importance. In “Voiles,” somewhat to that of “Delphes,” although the pace is a with brilliant figurations in the piano’s upper Serenade) is cast in the Spanish jota rhythm. faster-paced than its predecessor (“Modéré”), little faster. This is an improvisatory prelude octaves. There have been various sugges- The detached, almost staccato playing style this scale lends a meandering feeling and that ruminates around the keyboard: very tions regarding the title’s origin. One is the evokes the sound of a guitar. Strumming establishes no tonal center. A middle passage much like a gentle evening breeze. Hans Christian Andersen story “The Garden chords in the bass register may be heard as exploits the pentatonic scale, a pattern that of Paradise,” in which the four winds recount interruptions, or as accompaniments to the can be discerned in Native American, Anglo- From these inward-looking and somewhat what they survey. Another is a poem by serenade tune. Like his contemporary Ravel, American, Eastern European, and Asian folk indefinite sketches, we move to “Les collines Charles Grandmougin: Debussy loved the sounds and rhythms of and art music. Debussy probably first heard d’Anacapri” (The Anacapri Hills) with a much Spanish music and incorporated them into a pentatonic music during the Paris Exposition more extroverted mood and a songlike mid- At night in the mayhem of the tempest variety of works, notably “Iberia” from his set of 1889, one of whose major attractions was dle section that could easily be derived from Who can tell if the clamour rising to the heavens of orchestral . a Javanese gamelan, the typical instrumental an Italian folk tune. Rippling figurations build Is not the searing cry of souls in anguish? ensemble of Southeast Asia. (To reproduce up to a passage of great brilliance in the pia- “La Cathédral engloutie” (The Engulfed the pentatonic scale on the piano, play mid- no’s high register. “Des pas sur la neige,” how- Other votes go to Shelley’s “Ode to the West Cathedral) is the most pictorial piece we’ve dle C, D, E, G, and A, or start with F-Sharp and ever, returns us to the world of implication Wind”: “O wild West Wind, thou breath of heard thus far. It’s also one of the most stun- follow it with the next four black keys.) rather than declaration. Repeated, almost Autumn’s being . . . Wild spirit, which art ning pieces ever composed for the piano. static rhythmic patterns suggest tentative moving everywhere.” There’s a recklessness There is a legend in Brittany, on the north- There’s a strong tempo contrast in the steps through a heavy blanket of snow. The about the music’s progressions that certainly west coast of France, about a city called Ys “Animé” Prelude #3, “Le vent dans la plaine.” melodic motifs are hesitant, too, and lend suggests the Shelley poem, which Debussy that sank beneath the ocean, but whose Here the melodic progressions are domi- the piece an improvisatory feeling, as though knew in a French translation. majestic cathedral can sometimes be seen nated by half-tone intervals, while repeated- the music were literally feeling its way. rising from the waves, only to sink again. note patterns give a sense of mildly puffing One of the best-known Preludes is “La fille The subdued chords that open the prelude breezes, then a few big gusts that gradually “Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest” has the word aux cheveux de lin” (The Girl with Flaxen and continue underneath the melody that die down. “The wind in the plain holds its “Tumultuous” as part of its tempo marking, Hair). The serenity and beauty of this pen- at length emerges, represent the bells of breath” is a line from a celebrated 18th-cen- and its atmosphere presents a powerful con- tatonic musical portrait provide an oasis of the cathedral as it slowly, slowly, comes

8 9 into view. The tempo marking throughout is half-tones. “Feuilles mortes” recalls the atmo- calm pace suggest a placid, expansive Another scherzo follows, echoing “Les fées,” “Calm,” and the harmonies are based on the sphere of “Des pas sur la neige.” The dead landscape and a far horizon. It also recalls as we glimpse the water-sprite Ondine in pentatonic scale. The dynamic level builds leaves slowly falling, in no particular pattern, Debussy’s early piano pieces, especially the and out of evanescent motives. She evades and builds until the cathedral emerges trium- remind us that snow will soon follow. This two “Arabesques,” which like “Bruyères” fea- us in the keyboard’s higher register just when phantly from the sea, fortissimo. Rumblings is a slow-paced lament with indeterminate ture rippling, decorative arpeggios. It pro- it seemed she was going to make a clear in the bass register, as the theme drops from harmonies. vides an interval of gentle contemplation appearance in the general area of middle the piano’s upper range to mid-range, show before we hear “‘Général Lavine’ — excentric.” C. Rippling figurations suggest her watery the water reclaiming its own . . . and the “La puerta del vino” picks up the pace as This rollicking prelude is named for a music- home. The legends of underwater spirits are ghostly vision is gone. we hear a Spanish-Latin American habanera hall dancer who’s portrayed via a cakewalk often ominous — for example, the ancient rhythm, with srongly syncopated accents — a dance style popular in the early 20th Greek sirens who lured sailors to their deaths. “La danse de Puck,” marked “Capricious and that imply a slightly drunken dance by some- century. Once again, Debussy seems to have This spirit, however, isn’t very threatening; Light,” evokes Shakespeare’s wood-sprite one happily clutching a wine bottle. The placed this little vignette with its toe-tapping she’s just mischievous. Her mood vanishes who famously declared, “What fools these title, after all, means Wine Port, or dock. tunes as a deliberate contrast to the almost quickly as we hear “Hommage à S. Pickwick”: mortals be.” No stronger contrast to “La The inspiration is supposed to have been indeterminate sound of its predecessor. Debussy turns to the somewhat unexpected cathedrale engloutie” could be devised. The a postcard scene from Spain, but perhaps image of Dickens’s Samuel Pickwick to effect dancing, fleeting motifs of this prelude caper Debussy simply wanted to place a more “La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune” a change of mood and a different sound off into airy nothingness. There’s dancing strongly-flavored, more energetic, Spanish- begins with quiet radiance and proceeds altogether, as we hear fast-paced chords and also in “Minstrels,” but it is far more anchored style piece next to its two more amorphous through chromatic, resonant harmonies to good-humored running melodies harmo- in reality: minstrels dance onstage, not in the predecessors. In “Les fées sont d’esquises a brilliant sonic display representing moon- nized with almost no chromaticism at all. The air. A down-to-earth tune, played staccato, is danseuses,” we hear a kind of scherzo that light emerging from behind the clouds. The mood changes once again as we hear som- supported by sturdy chords. recalls not only “La danse de Puck” but also haze returns to obscure the moonlight at the ber, rich chords varied by light runs that only the elfin Scherzos of Mendelssohn’s string end. The title comes from a French newspa- reinforce the atmosphere of contemplation. As with Book 1, Debussy starts off Book 2 octet and “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The per account of Britain’s King George V being This is “Canope,” named for a type of ancient with two pieces characterized by moder- fairy dancers do not perform an organized crowned Emperor of India in 1912. “La ter- Egyptian funerary jar. Are we to envision ate-to-slow tempi and enigmatic moods. ballet; they improvise in a half-world half-lit rasse des audiences” may be translated as death following the dancing of Pickwick, or “Brouillards” means Fog, and the harmo- by will-o’-the-wisps. balcony, or some other kind of platform from is Debussy again looking for the greatest nies are indeed foggy, coming to no par- which a monarch could survey his subjects. contrast in mood and texture? ticular resolution until the final cadence. The “Bruyères” may be translated as moor or But the ruler here seems to be the moon. Is it impression is produced via chords based on heath; its straightforward harmonies and the moon that’s holding court?

10 11 “Les tierces alternées” (Alternating Thirds) the final display, we see the fireworks die out would later create for orchestra. Brilliant, isolated mountain refuge. The man and his starts slowly with patterns of thirds: two- as the sound slowly dies away. rippling figures show us the fountain in spar- grief are represented by one main theme, note “chords” encompassing the interval of a kling sunshine. We hear brief passages of a descending minor scale, constantly trans- third (C to E, for example). The pace picks up Liszt parted from Marie d’Agoult not long staccato that suggest bouncing water drop- formed through subtle variants, transposi- quickly as the thirds follow very rapidly one after their journey through Switzerland and lets and dancing jets of water in sunlight. tions between major and minor modes, and after another. This is the most virtuosic of the Italy. (One of their children, Cosima, married A new thematic variant is presented in the movement from the highest to the lowest Book 2 Preludes so far. In the middle section, the conductor Hans von Bulow, and later, piano’s highest register, then the fountain registers of the keyboard. A wandering, chro- a strong melody emerges, harmonized in Richard Wagner.) Resuming his career as a totally opens up with powerful chords and matic motif opens the piece, to be succeed- thirds, quickly overcome by the rapid motion pianist and composer, Liszt also assumed runs that exploit the entire range of the ed by the strongly-defined main melody, of the beginning. Second-guessers have sug- a conductor’s post in Weimar, Germany, keyboard. You can almost see the colors of first presented in the bass. When transferred gested Debussy should have placed this piece introducing a great deal of his own music the spectrum as the sun shines through the to higher keys, and transmuted to the major into his later collection of piano Etudes. But it and also that of Berlioz and Wagner. A new jets of water. Sparkling high notes and rip- mode, the theme sounds significantly dif- could well be he wanted to insert a Prelude love, Princess Carolyn of Sayn-Wittgenstein, pling bass patterns lead to a subsiding of the ferent, but the agitation and yearning are that, once again, clearly contrasts with what entered his life, but they also eventually waters into a gentle repose. still present. Rumbling in the bass leads to came before, and that would anticipate the parted. In the 1860s, Liszt settled in Rome a dramatic passage with assertive, almost brilliance of the final piece in the set, “Feux and took minor orders in the Roman Catholic “Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este” had a power- angry chords; is this a storm in the moun- d’artifice” (Fireworks). This and “Les tierces” Church. Among other compositional proj- ful influence on later composers, Debussy tains or in the soul? The main theme returns, strongly recall the virtuosity of Liszt’s piano ects, he produced another set of “Années de included. He evokes water sounds in the in major, indicating the possibility of peace, music. It’s an element not usually associated pèlerinage,” this one subtitled Rome. Its con- preludes “La Cathédrale engloutie” and but agitation returns in a heavy chordal sec- with Debussy’s keyboard works, but these tents, some religiously inspired, reveal the “Ondine.” tion, leading to a huge climax. Loneliness fireworks are a tour de force of technique. constant evolution of his harmonic genius and anguish are present in each note of the “Feux” is by far the most directly exciting of and his continuing skill with tone-painting. Most of the pieces in Liszt’s first “Années theme, and these emotions are the work’s the Preludes. It’s also extremely sonorous, “Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este” (The Fountain de pèlerinage,” Switzerland, are about nat- final impression. using the entire range of the keyboard and of the Villa d’Este) is one of the 19th century’s ural landscapes: storms, lakes, mountains. the power of the sustaining pedal to depict most brilliant demonstrations of pictorial “Vallée d’Obermann” is about the landscape Andrea Lamoreaux is music director of 98.7 a brilliant pyrotechnic display against the music, and one of the most virtuosic pieces of the human heart. He based the work WFMT-FM, Chicago’s classical-music station. night sky. In keeping with the piece’s subject, Liszt ever wrote, without ever putting virtu- upon the eponymous novel by Etienne there are patriotic echoes of “La Marseillaise.” osity first. It’s a true pianistic tone poem, in Pivert de Senancourt, about a man who tries Debussy saves a surprise for the end: after the mode of the tone poems Richard Strauss to escape from the sorrows of his life in an

12 13 About Jorge Federico Osorio Also with Osorio on Cedille Records

MEXICAN PIANO MUSIC BY MANUEL M. PONCE One of the pre-eminent pianists of our time, Jorge Federico Osorio is internationally acclaimed for his superb musicianship and masterful command of the instrument. He has “Osorio plays all of these pieces masterfully, with virtu- performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Chicago, Dallas, osity to spare and a natural expressiveness that never Detroit, and Seattle Symphonies; the Concertgebouw, French National, Philharmonia, compromises the music’s freshness and spontaneity. If I had to choose one highlight, it would probably be the Moscow State, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras; and the Israel and Warsaw Philharmonics. Suite cubana, a marvelous exploration of Latino musical Osorio has played under the batons of such distinguished conductors as Lorin Maazel, folklore cast as a triptych in the manner of Debussy’s Bernard Haitink, Klaus Tennstedt, Eduardo Mata, Enrique Batiz, James Conlon, and Jorge Images. But then, there are no dead spots, musically or Mester. His concert tours have taken him to Europe, Asia, North, Central and South Americas. interpretively, and the engineering offers the last word His American festival appearances have included the Hollywood Bowl, Ravinia, and Grant in sonic realism. In short, this is an absolutely wonderful

Park Festivals. Mr. Osorio is also an avid chamber musician; he has served as artistic director disc by any measure.” of the Brahms Music Festival in Mexico, and has performed with the late Henryk Szeryng, the — CLASSICSTODAY.COM Moscow Quartet, and the Tel Aviv Quartet. CDR 90000 086

Born in Mexico, Mr. Osorio began his musical studies at the age of five. He studied at PIANO ESPAÑOL the conservatories of Mexico, Paris, and Moscow; his teachers have included Luz Maria Music by Albéniz, Falla, Granados, Soler Puente, Bernard Flavigny, Jacob Milstein, Nadia Reisenberg, and Wilhelm Kempff. This is “Jorge Federico Osorio knows this music as well as Jorge Federico Osorio’s third recording for Cedille. His extensive discography on labels any pianist alive, and his performances bespeak such as EMI, CBS, Artek, IMP, and ASV include recent Brahms recordings that have received the wisdom of maturity with no loss of freshness accolades from Gramophone, American Record Guide, and the Chicago Tribune. Other or spontaneity. . . . There’s poetry aplenty, but also recordings include Beethoven’s Five Piano Concertos and Choral Fantasy; concertos by bravura. Sonically this recording strikes me as ideal. In short, what you hear is what Osorio does, and Brahms, Mozart, Ponce, Rodrigo (world premiere recording), Rachmaninov, Schumann, and what he does is pretty terrifi c.” Tchaikovsky; several Beethoven Sonatas; and solo piano works of Manuel Ponce. Mr. Osorio is a dedicated teacher and is on the faculty at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of — CLASSICSTODAY.COM Performing Arts. “Jorge Federico Osorio offers sparkling, prismatic accounts. . . . choosing one highlight over another is CDR 90000 075 impossible in a recording of such sustained excellence.” — SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE 14 15 Cedille Records • 5255 N Lakewood Avenue Chicago IL 60640 • 773.989.2515 • www.cedillerecords.org