Vittorio Forte

Vittorio Forte – Medtner · The Muse (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:36 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Odradek Records

Vittorio Forte continues his voyage of discovery through unusual and unjustly neglected piano repertoire with The Muse, an album devoted to the music of Nikolai Medtner.

Forte immersed himself in Medtner’s music during the lockdowns of 2020, finding both solace and joy in getting to know this unfamiliar but exceptional music. The Muse takes its name from one of Medtner’s songs to words by Pushkin, and this release concludes with Forte’s own transcription of this piece.

Medtner stands alongside Rachmaninov and Scriabin as among the foremost Russian composers of his time. Like them, Medtner’s output grew out of his formidable abilities as a pianist and thorough understanding of the instrument’s expressive range. Even so, he did not indulge in virtuosity for the sake of showmanship, but produced highly complex scores as a means of articulating his very particular vision.

The release begins with Medtner’s Forgotten Melodies, Op. 38. The opening theme of the nostalgic ‘Sonata reminiscenza’ is used by Medtner to unify the other movements, especially the concluding ‘Alla reminiscenza’, and between these pieces comes a series of songs and dances of varying moods. Each of Medtner’s Four Lyrical Fragments, Op. 23 occupies a distinct, often poignantly beautiful soundworld, representing another remarkable instance of the breadth of his invention.

At the heart of the album we hear Medtner’s Skazki or Fairy Tales, Op. 51, which are remarkably fine and deserving of a much wider audience. On hearing the pieces at a private performance, Rachmaninov praised the Skazki, declaring that ‘Kolya’ was peerless in his ability to tell tales in music. Both Medtner and Rachmaninov composed a setting of Pushkin’s ‘Muza’ dedicated to the Armenian writer and activist Marietta Shaginyan. Medtner responds to Pushkin’s paean to the beloved muse with a fluid melody and delicious harmonies, which have been elaborated and enriched in Vittorio Forte’s transcription.

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Vittorio Forte – C.P.E. Bach: Abschied (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:18:28 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Odradek Records

For acclaimed pianist Vittorio Forte, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach is a visionary who expanded the legacy of his father, J.S. Bach, offering his successors a blueprint for broadening music’s horizons. C.P.E. Bach’s music combines elements of J.S. Bach’s structural brilliance, Classical refinement, and Romantic emotional breadth, opening a door to a new musical era without turning its back on tradition. A “farewell” (Abschied) that does not deny the past, but rather draws deeply on this heritage.

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Vittorio Forte – Earl Wild: [Re]Visions – Piano Transcriptions (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:31 minutes | 1,01 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Odradek Records

Following the success of his Odradek debut, ‘Abschied’ (keyboard works by C.P.E. Bach), pianist Vittorio Forte pays tribute to one of his musical heroes, Earl Wild, whose transcriptions are, in Forte’s words, “a revelation”.

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Vittorio Forte – Chopin: Waltzes (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:16:20 minutes | 1,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Aevea Classics

The Waltzes are perhaps Chopin’s lighter works, even though they remain distant from the world of dance-music written for the ball room. Just as his mazurkas, Chopin’s waltzes were not conceived for dancing. Chopin’s first waltz dates to 1824, when he was fourteen; the last he wrote was the last piece for solo piano he published, in 1847.

Although Chopin seems to have written many waltzes, in reality only eight were published during his lifetime (Opp. 18, 34, 42, 64); several others were lost, and some are still – sadly – in private hands.

In this album the listener will find the alternative versions of the Waltzes Op. 69 and Op. 70 No. 2. The piece marked “Sostenuto,” in 3/4, can also be considered a waltz, despite its less complex development, and was included. Italian pianist Vittorio Forte is a well-known name in France, where he has an active performance activity. His pianism is characterized by elegance, excellent control, and a marked virtuosic character.

The recording, fully natural, took place using two pairs of Brüel & Kjær microphones.

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