The 5 Countertenors
Following the model of the Three Tenors concerts, which were an extraordinary success more than 20 years ago, DECCA is now releasing The 5 Countertenors, bringing together the most influential countertenors of the moment – Yuriy Mynenko, Xavier Sabata, Max Emanuel Cenčić, Valer Sabadus, Vince Yi – in a program of baroque arias (half in world premiere) from the times when female roles were performed by castrated men. As three of the five will come to the “Enescu” Festival in the fall, the CD may be a preview of the concert on September 6.
Eduard Kunz
The first CD of pianist Eduard Kunz (First Prize at the “George Enescu” Competition in 2007) includes a 2012 recital in Italy, with works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and Paderewski. For those who are less familiar with the great Russian pianist based in Bucharest, for those who did not listen to him with Alexandru Tomescu in the recently concluded Stradivarius Tour, the recital will be a pleasant surprise from the first bars of the first piece on the CD, the sonata K 213 by Scarlatti. With a less usual phrasing and a unique sound, the sonata turns into a kind of extract.
Ivo Pogorelich
There are not many pianists from the last century who managed to stir up as much controversy as Ivo Pogorelich. At 22, he participated in the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, but was eliminated (for political reasons) before the final, as a result of which Martha Argerich resigned from the jury, stating that the pianist is a genius. Some consider him brilliant, others consider him just an eccentric with a fabulous technique, but he always has something important to say in any work he performs. A box set (14 CDs) that Deutsche Grammophon owed us, especially since Ivo Pogorelich hasn't set foot in a recording studio in almost two decades.
