Karol Rathaus: Piano Music, Volume One
Karol Rathaus (1895–1954), born on the eastern fringes of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was one of the myriad Jewish composers who had to abandon a successful career in Europe, where he wrote for stage, screen and concert hall, and flee to the USA; there he earned his living in academia, working in obscurity. This first recording of his piano music reveals a powerful and individual voice, where echoes of his distant homeland colour a musical language that is striking for its harmonic tension and rhythmic energy.
Daniel Wnukowski, piano
Listen To This Recording:
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Fünf Klavierstücke, Op. 9 (1924)
- I Andante
- II Allegro
- III Andante
- IV Durchaus gemächlich
- V Presto
- I Allegro energico
- II Presto (rubato)
- III Andante con moto
- I Im Rhythmus einer Mazurka
- II Schnell, etwas flüchtig
- III Allegro vivace
- I Valse Sentimentale
- II Tanz der Arbeiter
- Lied der Gruschenka
- Lied vom weissen Schwan
- Bei den Zigeunern
Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 8 (1924; rev. 1927)
Trois Mazurkas, Op. 24 (1928)
Zwei Stücke aus dem Ballet ‘Der letzte Pierrot’ (1926, arr. 1927)
Three Excerpts from the Film Music for Der Mörder Dimitri Karamasoff (‘The Murderer Dimitri Karamazov’; 1931)
MusicWeb International :
‘It’s Polish-Canadian Daniel Wnukowski who shoulders the filmic, ballet, sonata and other burdens in the recital and he proves a most able exponent, suggesting Rathaus’ vitality and also his more crabbed, harmonically aloof self. If anyone is going to write a booklet note on this subject, it’s Michael Haas.’
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International