"Promenade" - Works by Chopin & Mussorgsky Andrea Kauten

• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Préludes, Op. 28:
• 1 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 1 C-Dur, Agitato 00:46
• 2 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 2 A-Moll (Lento) 02:33
• 3 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 3 G-Dur (Vivace) 01:17
• 4 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 4 E-Moll (Largo) 02:13
• 5 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 5 D-Dur (Allegro Molto) 00:52
• 6 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 6 H-Moll (Lento Assai) 01:58
• 7 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 7 A-Dur (Andantino) 00:43
• 8 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 8 Fis-Moll (Molto Agitato) 02:09
• 9 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 9 E-Dur (Largo) 01:55
• 10 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 10 Cis-Moll (Allegro Molto) 00:41
• 11 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 11 H-Dur (Vivace) 00:50
• 12 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 12 gis-Moll (Presto) 01:21
• 13 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 13 Fis-Dur (Lento) 03:50
• 14 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 14 Es-Moll (Allegro-Pesante) 00:36
• 15 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 15 Des-Dur (Sostenuto) 05:14
• 16 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 16 B-Moll (Presto Con Fuoco) 01:34
• 17 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 17 as-Dur( Allegretto) 03:25
• 18 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 18 F-Moll (Allegro Molto) 01:16
• 19 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 19 Es-Dur (Vivace) 01:54
• 20 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 20 C-Moll (Largo) 01:27
• 21 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 21 B-Dur (Cantabile) 02:05
• 22 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 22 G-Moll (Molto Agitato) 00:55
• 23 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 23 F-Dur (Moderato) 01:06
• 24 Préludes, Op. 28: No. 24 D-Moll (Allegro) 02:40
• Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881):
• 25 Promenade. Allegro Giusto, Nel Modo Rustico, Senza Allegrezza, Ma Poco Sostenuto 01:21
• 26 Gnomus. Sempre Vivo 02:30
• 27 Promenade. Moderato Commodo Assai E Con Delicatezza 01:04
• 28 The Old Castle. Andantino Molto Cantabile E Con Dolore 04:24
• 29 Promenade. Moderato Non Tanto, Pesamente 00:32
• 30 The Tuileries Gardens. Allegretto Non Troppo Troppo, Capriccioso 00:57
• 31 Bydlo. Sempre Moderato, Pesante 02:37
• 32 Promenade. Tranquillo 01:01
• 33 Ballet of the Chickens in Their Shells 01:11
• 34 Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle. Andante. Grave-Energico - Andantino 02:17
• 35 Promenade. Allegro Giusto, Nel Modo Russico, Poco Sostenuto 01:23
• 36 The Market-Place at Limoges. Allegretto Vivo, Sempre Scherzando 01:31
• 37 The Catacombs Sepulchrum Romanum. Largo 02:05
• 38 Con Mortuis in Lingua Mortua. Andante Non Troppo, Con Lamento 02:38
• 39 The Hut on Fowl's Legs Baba-Yaga. Allegro Con Brio, Feroce - Andante Mosso - Allegro Molto 04:35
• 40 The Great Gate of Kiev. Allegro Alla Breve. Maestoso. Con Grandezza 03:30
• Total Runtime 01:16:56

Info for "Promenade" - Works by Chopin & Mussorgsky

The new Solo Musica recording “Promenade” of Frédéric Chopin’s Préludes op. 28 and Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” brings together two prominent piano cycles that are almost emblematic of their creators’ oeuvre. In the juxtaposition, pianist Andrea Kauten shows what unites them despite all the expected contrasts, which goes far beyond some obvious references by Mussorgsky to Chopin’s Préludes.

Both large-scale cycles combine miniatures of partly aphoristic character. They stand in the tension between European art music and the national influences of Eastern European and Slavic traditions. For the time being, they seek different solutions. The cosmopolitan Chopin, rejecting any demonstrative patriotism, manages the seamless integration of his Polish idiom into a universally European expression. Mussorgsky, as a self-confessed post-cosmopolitan, emphatically recalled the folk-Russian, which he offensively opposed to everything “Western”. Both composers found their way to a personalised musical language which, while freely handling the form, allows the traditional harmonies to be broken up by deliberate instabilities. Both meet on the path to modernity.

Even if emotional exhibitionism was alien to both composers and the works can only be related to the biographical snapshots of their genesis with extreme caution: Both cycles are set against the background of a confrontation with death that is as surprising as it is inexorable.

With passion, musicality and a high technical standard, Andrea Kauten elicits restrained, poetic but also very expressive sounds from a concert grand. Again and again she surprises her listeners: “Flushed and at times over-assertive, Kauten leaves you in no doubt of her commitment and intensity”, said Bruce Morrison in Gramophone.

Andrea Kauten, piano

Andrea Kauten
Trained from the age of seven by the Basle pianist Albert Engel, the Swiss-Hungarian pianist Andrea Kauten became a finalist at the Jecklin Competition in Zurich at 13 and won first prize at the Swiss Youth Music Competition one year later before enrolling at the Basle Academy of Music. A scholarship from the Federation of Migros Cooperatives Switzerland then enabled her to continue her studies at the famous Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. This opportunity, and the brilliant combination of technique and expressivity she admires in Liszt�s music, have left an indelible mark on her playing. Her close blend of sensitivity and consummate technique enables her to coax unimaginable sounds from the concert grand piano. Her playing is poetic � now subdued, now richly expressive, but always eminently creative and always in keeping with the demands of the music.

»I want people to be able to find something for themselves that fills them with the same passion and intensity that I feel the moment I touch a piano.« These thoughtful words bear witness to the ardent fervour and deeply felt humanity that Andrea Kauten pursues in her art. Her readings ofthe great 19th century composers demonstrate both the sensitivity and the virtuosity she has at her command. She places great store on accuracy and textual fidelity in her playing, divining so to speak the intended message through the musical text, unveiling it with supremely intuitive musicianship and bringing it to fruition in enhanced form. Her first CD, with works by Franz Liszt, Carl Goldmark and Sergei Rachmaninov, appeared as early as 1993. Since then she has concertised in various countries, including the United States, Canada, Denmark, France and Germany. In 2006 she released recordings of Schumann's C-major Fantasy, Kreisleriana and two Romances (op. 28, nos. 2 and 3) on the Sony Classical label. Two further CDs followed in 2009, one with Schumann's Third Piano Sonata, Symphonic Etudes and Novelettes, the other with Beethoven�s Appassionata Sonata, two late Brahms pieces (op. 118, nos. 1 and 2) and finally Carnaval, again by Schumann.

Andrea Kauten is Artistic Director of the Anneliese Benner-Krafft Foundation Concerts in Schopfheim-Fahrnau (in the southern Black Forest), a concert series that has long been recommended by connoisseurs.

This album contains no booklet.