Studio Masters

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Rachmaninoff: Études-tableaux, Op. 39 (& Works by Scriabin & Prokofiev) (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:24 minutes | 845 MB | Genre: Classical, Piano
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Evidence

Twenty years of Russian piano: that’s what we’re being offered by the young pianist Jean-Paul Gasparian in his first – much-remarked-upon and very remarkable – discographic work. Gasparian starts in 1897 with Scriabin’s Second Sonata (also known as the Sonata Fantasy), still strongly redolent of Chopin, but already showing a few of those harmonic equivocations which were so dear to the mystical composer). And then another Second Sonata, this one by Prokofiev in 1912 – with the “motoric”, wild aspect very much to the fore. The pianist has made the very wise decision not to overdo the score’s brutality, and carefully avoids drowning the work in noisome pedal effects. In the same year, 1912, Scriabin wrote his Three Études Op. 65 in the style of his late maturity, which shines through on Poem of Ecstasy: here again, the soloist opts for transparency, allowing the listener to really follow the harmonic and thematic content – if we can really give the name “themes” to these snatched vignettes, these stitched-together scraps, these ferocious sallies which sound like calls to musical revolt. The album opens with nine Études-tableaux Op. 39 by Rachmaninov, written in 1917, which mix the technical side of the étude with evocative art; deliberately imprecise, the composer never prescribes a programme, providing every listener and pianist with a blank canvas to fill as they see fit. To be sure, the “Isle of the Dead” element breaks out most fully in the second étude, in particular with the deathlessly evocative scraps of the Dies irae… In any case, let us welcome Jean-Paul Gasparian to the great European stage, after his short-notice stint as a stand-in for Zacharias in Germany, and whose career is unfolding with speed and confidence.
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Jean-Paul Gasparian – Chopin : 4 Ballades, Polonaise Héroïque, Polonaise Fantaisie, Nocturnes, Waltzes (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:08 minutes | 922 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Evidence

In his first recording, Pianist Jean-Paul Gasparian had shown a healthy technique that is essential to play the music of Russian giants. But his strong play is also sensible. In his second disc that is now dedicated to Chopin, the young performer confirms these qualities. Especially in the four Ballads, true bravura pieces in which Jean-Paul Gasparian never fails. And if he shows rigor, he also gives himself the lyricism and beauty of these pages, from Nocturnes to Waltzes and Polonaises. His elegant expression and full sound make this new album a second essential milestone in the discography of the young pianist and more generally in that of Chopin.
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