Four Elements, Vol. 3: Wind Yu Kosuge

• Louis-Claude Daquin (1694 - 1772): Pièces de clavecin:
• 1 Daquin: Pièces de clavecin, Suite No. 3: No. 16, Le coucou (Performed on Piano) 02:26
• 2 Daquin: Pièces de clavecin, Suite No. 1: No. 6, Les vents en couroux (Performed on Piano) 03:20
• François Couperin (1668 - 1733):
• 3 Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, Book 3, Ordre XVII in E Minor: II. Les petits moulins à vent (Performed on Piano) 03:20
• Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764):
• 4 Rameau: Pièces de clavecin avec une méthode, Suite in E Minor, RCT 2: V. Le rappel des oiseaux (Performed on Piano) 03:57
• Akira Nishimura (b. 1953):
• 5 Nishimura: Kalavinka 09:54
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31 No. 2 "Tempest":
• 6 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31 No. 2 "Tempest": I. Largo - Allegro 10:27
• 7 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31 No. 2 "Tempest": II. Adagio 08:36
• 8 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31 No. 2 "Tempest": III. Allegretto 07:03
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Préludes, Book 1, L. 117 (Excerpts):
• 9 Debussy: Préludes, Book 1, L. 117 (Excerpts): No. 2, Voiles 04:06
• 10 Debussy: Préludes, Book 1, L. 117 (Excerpts): No. 3, Le vent dans la plaine 02:08
• 11 Debussy: Préludes, Book 1, L. 117 (Excerpts): No. 7, Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest 03:19
• Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928): In the Mists, JW VIII/22:
• 12 Janáček: In the Mists, JW VIII/22: I. Andante 04:25
• 13 Janáček: In the Mists, JW VIII/22: II. Molto adagio 05:49
• 14 Janáček: In the Mists, JW VIII/22: III. Andantino 03:49
• 15 Janáček: In the Mists, JW VIII/22: IV. Presto 05:41
• Total Runtime 01:18:20

Info for Four Elements, Vol. 3: Wind

Acclaimed Japanese pianist Yu Kosuge unveils Wind, the third in her series of four Orchid Classics albums related to the four elements (Water, Fire, Wind, Earth). Kosuges inspiration for these releases stems from her relationship with the music of Beethoven, who was drawn to Greek legends. This led Kosuge to the Greek concept of the four elements as the basis of these albums. Beethoven is one of a varied selection of composers featured on Wind; Yu Kosuge performs his blustery Piano Sonata Op. 31, No. 2, known as The Tempest. There are evocative pieces from the French Baroque, by Couperin, Rameau and Daquin, and from the world of French Impressionism with three of Debussys fleet-footed Préludes. The release is completed with a piece by contemporary Japanese composer Akira Nishimura, and the atmospheric In the Mists by Janáek.

"Apart from technical perfection, which is not that unusual today, she possesses a stunning palette of expression and an exquisite and pearly touch.§ (Piano News)

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 for Four Elements, Vol. 3: Wind