Alexander Melnikov matches instruments to works in a brilliantly performed album that sheds light not only on the music, but also on the development of the pianoforte. The mechanical, brittle tone of Melnikov’s own early 19th-century Alois Graff gives Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy (Fantasie in C Major) a forthright character. The 1837 Erard is richer yet allows us to see a more intimate side to Chopin’s Etudes. The drama of Liszt’s Réminiscences de Don Juan comes alive on the heavier-toned 1875 Bösendorfer. Finally, Melnikov demonstrates the clean sound of a modern Steinway with Stravinsky.
- Trio Wanderer
- Isabelle Faust, Ewa Kupiec & Florent Boffard
- Belcea Quartet & Piotr Anderszewski
- Georgy Voilochnikov, Alexey Chernov, Dmitri Karpov, Artyom Abashev, Daniil Trifonov & Inna Korneeva
- Steven Isserlis & Olli Mustonen
- Leif Ove Andsnes