Four Elements, Vol. 2: Fire Yu Kosuge

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893): The Seasons, Op. 37a, TH 135:
• 1 The Seasons, Op. 37a, TH 135: No. 1, January (By the Hearth) 05:12
• Max Reger (1873 - 1916): Träume am Kamin, Op. 143 (Excerpts):
• 2 Träume am Kamin, Op. 143 (Excerpts): No. 3, — 03:37
• 3 Träume am Kamin, Op. 143 (Excerpts): No. 5, — 03:13
• 4 Träume am Kamin, Op. 143 (Excerpts): No. 7, — 05:04
• 5 Träume am Kamin, Op. 143 (Excerpts): No. 10, — 02:26
• 6 Träume am Kamin, Op. 143 (Excerpts): No. 12, — 02:56
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886): Symphonic Poem No. 5 "Prometheus"
• 7 Symphonic Poem No. 5 "Prometheus", S. 99 (Arr. L. Stark for Piano) 12:58
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918):
• 8 Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon 02:55
• 9 Preludes, Book 2, L. 123: No. 12, Feux d'artifice 04:56
• Alexander Scriabin (1871 - 1915):
• 10 Vers la flamme, Op. 72 05:27
• Manuel de Falla (1876 - 1946): El Amor Brujo (Excerpts) [Revised Version for Solo Piano]:
• 11 El Amor Brujo (Excerpts) [Revised Version for Solo Piano]: No. 10, Canción del Fuego Fatuo 01:39
• 12 El Amor Brujo (Excerpts) [Revised Version for Solo Piano]: No. 8, Danza Ritual del Fuego 04:03
• Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971): The Firebird (Excerpts) [Version for Piano]:
• 13 The Firebird (Excerpts) [Version for Piano]: Introduction 03:16
• 14 The Firebird (Excerpts) [Version for Piano]: Dance of the Firebird 01:43
• 15 The Firebird (Excerpts) [Version for Piano]: Round Dance of the Princesses 05:01
• 16 The Firebird (Excerpts) [Version for Piano]: Infernal Dance of All Kastchei’s Subjects 04:52
• 17 The Firebird (Excerpts) [Version for Piano]: The Firebird's Lullaby 03:10
• 18 The Firebird (Excerpts) [Version for Piano]: Disappearance of Kastchei’s Palace & Magical Creations - Return to Life of the Petrified Knights 04:09
• Total Runtime 01:16:37

Info zu Four Elements, Vol. 2: Fire

Prometheus defied the gods to steal fire and give it to humanity. The ancient titan’s priceless gift, used since for good and ill, has never lost its fascination. Yo Kosuge, praised for her immaculate technique and penetrating artistry, explores creative responses to fire in the second volume of her Four Elements project. The Berlin-based Japanese pianist’s latest Orchid Classics album moves from pieces filled with nostalgic warmth to others animated by hell’s tormenting flames. “By showing these many different aspects of fire, I want to lead the listener through different stories as told by composers, from the Romantic to contemporary periods,” comments Yu Kosuge. Four Elements: Fire is built around compositions written during the First World War, each hallmarked by harmonic daring and searing emotions. Its tracklist includes a selection of Max Reger’s sublime Träume am Kamin, fireside dreams preserved in the form of musical miniatures; Vers la flamme, among Alexander Scriabin’s final compositions and one his most intense; Debussy’s breathtaking Feux d’artifice, a pyrotechnic tour de force; and the Ritual Fire Dance from Manuel de Falla’s ballet El amor brujo.

Yu Kosuge, piano

Yu Kosuge
With her superlative technique, sensitivity of touch, and profound understanding of the music she plays, Yu Kosuge has become one of the world’s most noted pianists of her generation. Yu has been giving recitals and performing with orchestras since early childhood; at the age of nine she made her debut with the Tokyo New City Orchestra. In 1993, she moved to Europe to continue her studies in Hannover and Salzburg and received great support and inspiration from András Schiff.

Yu Kosuge has appeared at leading venues in Berlin, Hamburg, Köln, Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Zurich, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, Washington and New York. Her Carnegie Hall debut recital met with outstanding success with critics praising her “acutely poetic sensibility…wit, drama, and effulgent lyricism”. She has been invited to festivals across Europe including Salzburger Festspiele, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Passau, Braunschweig, Mozartwoche Salzburg, Holland Music Festival, Piano Festival Lille, La Roque d’Anthéron Piano Festival and La Folle Journée de Nantes. She also enjoys chamber music and has performed with members of the Berlin Philharmonic.

As well as regular performances in Asia and with all the major Japanese orchestras, Yu Kosuge has worked with many of the leading European orchestras including the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Berliner Sinfonie Orchester, Radio-Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt, Camerata Salzburg, St Petersburg Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Radio Symphony Orchestra Finland. She has performed with conductors of the stature of Seiji Ozawa, Jun Märkl, Philippe Herreweghe, Gerd Albrecht, Lawrence Foster, Sakari Oramo, Christian Arming, Yutaka Sado, Mark Wigglesworth, Osmo Vänskä, Vasili Petrenko and Dennis Russell Davies.

Yu Kosuge’s upcoming debuts include Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

In September 2009 Sony released Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Mito Chamber Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa with a selection from Songs Without Words. Yu Kosuge’s other recordings on Sony include Liszt’s 12 Études d´exécution transcendante, Chopin’s Préludes and Nocturne, and Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos 20 and 22. Over the last few years, Yu Kosuge has been recording Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas which she has recently completed. The box set was released in the autumn of 2016. In the autumn of 2018 Orchid Classics released the first of four CDs, ‘Water,’ as part of her ‘Four Elements’ cycle.

In March 2017 Yu Kosuge won the Suntory Music Award, presented to individuals or organizations who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of Western music in Japan.

Yu Kosuge lives in Berlin.

Booklet für Four Elements, Vol. 2: Fire