Virtuoso Piano Transcriptions (Live) Alessandro Taverna

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (Excerpts Transcr. S. Rachmaninoff for Solo Piano):
• 1Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (Excerpts Transcr. S. Rachmaninoff for Solo Piano): I. Prelude [Live]04:10
• 2Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (Excerpts Transcr. S. Rachmaninoff for Solo Piano): III. Gavotte [Live]02:41
• 3Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (Excerpts Transcr. S. Rachmaninoff for Solo Piano): VII. Gigue [Live]02:03
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886): Réminiscences de Don Juan, S. 418:
• 4Réminiscences de Don Juan, S. 418 (Live)18:46
• 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558:
• 512 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558: No. 8, Gretchen am Spinnrade (After D. 118) [Live]04:07
• 6 Melodien von Franz Schubert, S. 563:
• 66 Melodien von Franz Schubert, S. 563: No. 6, Die Forelle (After D. 550) [Live]03:23
• 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558:
• 712 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558: No. 4, Erlkönig (After D. 328) [Live]04:48
• Paraphrase de concert sur Rigoletto, S. 434:
• 8Paraphrase de concert sur Rigoletto, S. 434 (Live)07:33
• Johann Strauss II (1825 - 1899): Schatz-Walzer, Op. 418 (Arr. E. von Dohnányi for Solo Piano):
• 9Schatz-Walzer, Op. 418 (Arr. E. von Dohnányi for Solo Piano) [Live]08:01
• George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): Rhapsody in Blue (Version for Solo Piano):
• 10Rhapsody in Blue (Version for Solo Piano) [Live]17:29
• Total Runtime01:13:01

Info for Virtuoso Piano Transcriptions (Live)

SOMM RECORDINGS is pleased to announce a sparkling recital of Virtuoso Piano Transcriptions spanning two centuries from Bach to Gershwin by pianist Alessandro Taverna.

During its peak popularity in the century from 1820, the art of transcription provided access in both the home and the concert hall to the riches of the symphonic and operatic repertoires through the conduit of the piano.

Recorded as part of the 2018/2019 Piano Series at Turner Sims, Southampton, Alessandro Taverna celebrates a lost art that made great music available to the widest audience in an era before the first recordings and radio.

Treated to a masterly re-imagining by Rachmaninov, Bach’s Third Violin Partita opens a recital that also showcases Taverna elegant virtuosity at the keyboard.

A characteristically combustible re-working of themes from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Liszt’s Réminiscences de Don Juan takes full advantage of the piano’s full orchestral range and sounds all the more remarkable in Taverna’s by turns poetic and powerful performance.

Liszt’s transcriptions of three Schubert songs reveal his sensitivity to the originals and his appreciation of the piano’s ability to conjure fantasy to mesmeric effect, his ‘paraphrase’ of Verdi’s Rigoletto a miniature marvel for the piano.

Echoes of Liszt can be heard in Ernst von Dohnányi’s delightfully dancing re-working of Johann Strauss the Younger’s Schatz Walzer and in George Gershwin’s electric, effervescent arrangement of his own Rhapsody in Blue, a thrilling display of pianistic fireworks brilliantly realised by Taverna.

Alessandro Taverna’s previous recordings for SOMM include Sonatas by Nicolai Medtner (SOMMCD 0142) and music by Debussy and Ravel (SOMMCD 0168), of which Fanfare magazine said: “Boldness and refinement keeps the playing interesting at every moment… Taverna distinguishes every textural strand with clarity… this superb release will add lustre to his reputation”.

Alessandro Taverna, piano

Alessandro Taverna
Hailed in the world of music as the “natural successor to his great compatriot Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli”, Alessandro Taverna’s “music making stimulates the senses as does a visit to his native Venice”, and gives “rise to a feeling of wonderment”. When he reached the final and performed Chopin’s First Piano Concerto at the 2009 Leeds International Piano Competition, “the world was suffused with grave beauty”. Since then, Alessandro Taverna has shown a most remarkable, constant development that makes him one of the most interesting, musical pianists of his generation, being in worldwide demand.

At age 28, Alessandro Taverna has won numerous awards in national and international competitions, lately 2nd Prize at London International Piano Competition (2009), 1st prize at Minnesota International Piano Competition (2009), 3rd prize in Leeds (2009), and Premio Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (2010).

Alessandro has performed throughout Italy, Europe, North America and South Africa including the MiTO Settembre Musica/Milan, Konzerthaus/Berlin, Fazioli Concert Hall, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festivals, Salle Cortot/Paris, International Keyboard Festival/New York as well as major cities of South Africa. He also appears regularly as soloist with orchestra, e.g. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico/Vicenza. He has recorded for Radio Classica in Italy, Slovenian National Radio Television and Classic FM Radio in South Africa.

In 2009, Taverna was chosen by the international foundation The Keyboard Charitable Trust (London), for which he performed at Steinway Halls in London, New York, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, as well as opening the 2009-2010 season of Lorin Maazel’s Châteauville Foundation in Castleton/Virginia. This is when Maestro Maazel invited him to tour with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during the 2012/2013 season.

A native of Venice, Italy, Alessandro Taverna began his piano studies at the Fondazione Musicale Santa Cecilia, Portogruaro, with Laura Candiago Ferrari, graduating with honours in 2001. He achieved the Artist Diploma at the Scuola di Perfezionamento Musicale di Portogruaro, studying with Piero Rattalino, and continued at the legendary Accademia Pianistica Internazionale “Incontri col Maestro” in Imola with Franco Scala, Leonid Margarius and Boris Petrushansky. He received his Master Diploma in November 2008. In January 2009, Alessandro Taverna enrolled at the famous Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli, graduating cum laude, and he currently contiues his studies with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover/Germany. He also attends the renowned Lake Como Piano Academy, where he has the possibility to work with some of the finest personalities of the piano world.

Booklet for Virtuoso Piano Transcriptions (Live)