Viktor Valkov

Viktor Valkov – Ornstein: Piano Music, Vol. 3 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:03:46 minutes | 516 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Toccata Classics

Leo Ornstein is as well known for his extraordinary longevity as for his music: he was born in Ukraine in 1893 and died in Wisconsin in 2002, aged at least 108. His generous output of music, much of it for the piano, his own instrument, remains poorly known, although it can stand shoulder to shoulder with that of many better-known names. Some of the pieces here – which cover a span of over 60 years – have their roots in Debussy, Skryabin and Szymanowski, but Ornstein welds those influences into an edgy, energetic language very much his own. The Three Moods of c. 1914 are anger, grief and joy, but there is strength of feeling in all the music to be heard here. Indeed, the Nine Vignettes bear a misleading title: they are substantial and powerful virtuoso essays which can flare up into moments of startling power and violence; hitherto unknown, they constitute a major contribution to the piano literature.

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Viktor Valkov – The Valkov-Dahn Project (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:56 minutes | 783 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Albany Records

Winner of the 2012 New Orleans International Piano Competition, Viktor Valkov has been hailed as a “lion of the keyboard” and “sensational” (Wiesbadener Kurier). A winner of Astral’s 2015 National Auditions, he recently gave a critically acclaimed recital in London’s Wigmore Hall, and appeared as soloist with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Baton Rouge Symphony, the Acadiana Symphony, and West Virginia Symphony.

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