Beatrice Rana, Antonio Pappano – Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos (2015) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky – Piano Concertos – Beatrice Rana, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz  | Time – 01:06:58 minutes | 1,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

Recorded: July 13-17, 2015

Maestro Antonio Pappano insisted he wanted to record with Beatrice Rana, the 22-year-old Italian pianist championed by Martha Argerich who shot to stardom when she claimed the Silver Medal and the coveted Audience Award in the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. On that occasion, Huffington Post described the seasoned competition winner’s performance as ‘an endlessly fascinating piece of humanity that had the orchestra riveted on every note’. Warner Classics signed this young piano sensation in mid-2015; the Italian virtuoso now makes her label debut with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano. Recorded in Rome, the formidable programme pairs two Russian masterpieces: a thrillingly fresh take on the warhorse of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat minor – an indispensable repertoire benchmark and calling card for concert pianists all over the world – and Prokofiev’s stormy, emotionally charged Piano Concerto No.2. This coupling is a bold statement for a musician who ‘possesses an old soul that belies her twenty years, and more than a touch of genius’ (Gramophone), but the soloist believes she has ‘the right character’ for this kind of music: ‘People say that South Italians are very dramatic!’

“In a word? Beatrice Rana is fierce! And not only as a pianist but as a fully developed artist of a stature that belies her tender years…I can’t think of another recent concerto release that, beginning to end, affords greater pleasure.” -Gramophone Editor’s Choice

The young Italian pianist Beatrice Rana came to public attention in the U.S. as a silver medalist at the 2013 Van Cliburn Competition in Texas and was then signed to the surging Warner Classics label. This debut album seems to justify the buzz. The program, with the evergreen Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23, and the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16, is conventional enough for a first outing, but Rana easily stands out from the crowd. Take your pick when sampling, but perhaps the highlight of the whole thing is the finale of the Prokofiev (track four), ferocious and brilliant all at once. The virtues of the Tchaikovsky are different, and here you see something of the strengths that might emerge in Rana’s playing in the future: where the Prokofiev is hard and minatory, the Tchaikovsky goes counter to the abundant monumental readings of the first movement with a treatment that’s deliberate, detailed, and cumulatively sweeping. Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia are plainly electrified by the playing of their young compatriot and respond with crack, lush playing, excellently captured in the orchestra’s Sala Santa Cecilia home base. An extremely exciting debut, and fine versions of these two standards by any measure. -AllMusic Review by James Manheim

Tracklist:

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16
1. I. Andantino – Allegretto 11:40
2. II. Scherzo. Vivace 06:07
3. III. Intermezzo. Allegro moderato 06:07
4. IV. Finale. Allegro tempestoso 11:48

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23
5. I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito 21:20
6. II. Andantino semplice – Prestissimo 06:47
7. III. Allegro con fuoco 06:51

Personnel:
Beatrice Rana, piano
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Antonio Pappano, conductor

Download:

mqs.link_PrkfievTchaikvskyPianCncertsBeatriceRanaAntniPappan20159624.part1.rar
mqs.link_PrkfievTchaikvskyPianCncertsBeatriceRanaAntniPappan20159624.part2.rar