Leo Ornstein: Piano Music, Volume Two
The Russian-born American pianist-composer Leo Ornstein (1893-2002) lived long enough — an astonishing 109 years — to see his music both fall into and re-emerge from obscurity. With his earliest surviving work dating from around 1905 and his last from 1990, Ornstein's music naturally embraces a range of styles, extending on this second CD of his piano music from the Rachmaninov-like Suite Russe (1914) to the brittle but urgent Impressionism of A Morning in the Woods (1971). The meat of this disc is the extraordinary sequence of seventeen Waltzes Ornstein composed, largely in the 1960s and '70s, which vary from the sexily languorous to the boldly tempestuous, requiring the fearless virtuosity that Arsentiy Kharitonov brings to them here.
Arsentiy Kharitonov, piano
Listen To This Recording:
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Complete Waltzes, s400t16(1958tc.1980)
- No. 1, S400
- No. 2, S401
- No. 3, S402
- No. 4, S403
- No. 5, S404
- No. 6, S405
- No. 7, S406
- No. 8, S407
- No. 9, S408 Moderato con moto
- No. 10, S409
- No. 11, S410 Vivo
- No. 12, S411 Allegro
- No. 13, S412 Moderato
- No. 14, S413 Allegro non troppo
- No. 15, S414 Allegro con moto ed bravura
- No. 16, S415
- No. 17, S416
- No. 1 Doumka (Andante espressivo)
- No. 2 Extase (Allegro con eleganza)
- No. 3 Barcarole (Andante sostenuto)
- No. 4 MÈlancolie (Andante con moto)
- No. 5 Danse Burlesque (Vivace)
- No. 6 Berceuse (Andantino con semplice)
- No. 7 Chanson PathÈtique (Allegro con forza)
- A Morning in the Woods, S106 (1971)
Suite Russe, S58 (1914)
MusicWeb International :
‘…The waltzes make a most digestible sequence, full of contrast and vitality, augmented by the lighter fare of the Suite russe. Once again Kharitonov is an exemplary guide – witty, warm and splendidly recorded.’
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
Seth Blacklock :
The pianism on this disc, just from listening to the audio samples available, seems to be of a very high order indeed – musical (of course), strong, powerful, colourful, delicate and characterful. The recorded sound, too, is excellent. I look forward to receiving my copy of the disc!
Classical–Modern Music Review :
‘[this release is] a revelation in its own right. […]
Arsentiy Kharitonov brings passion and dash to the works represented here and they are sometimes fiendishly difficult. In their best moments they show a composer of extraordinary originality, combining Russian-Jewish roots with a touch of neo-impressionism, and a well-wrought modernism that sometimes startles with brash dissonance and kinetic fire. […]
[the waltzes] occupy more than an hour’s time in the program and make for essential Ornstein, well worth experiencing! […]
This is a beautiful disk, revealing for us an Ornstein we have never fully appreciated, perhaps until now. A master.’
—Grego Applegate Edwards, Classical–Modern Music Review
American Record Review :
‘Here is the eagerly anticipated second volume of piano music by this amazing composer, […]
I can enthusiastically recommend this second volume. […]
I listened [to the Waltzs] with rapt attention. […]
A Morning in the Woods from 1971 is an impressionist essay of shifting tonality. With a deconstructed waltz tempo it floats exquisitely in a strange world that is well worth exploring.’
—American Record Review, February 2014