Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat major, Op. 83

Since winning the Arthur Rubinstein Competition and the Sidney Piano Competition, Alexander Korsantia’s career has taken him to many of the world’s major concert halls, collaborating with renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christoph Eschenbach, Yuri Bashmet and Paavo Jarvi and orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, the Kirov, Israel Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic. He has also given many recitals with renowned violinist Vadim Repin. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Korsantia has lived in the United States since 1992. He now resides in Boston where he is Professor of Piano at the New England Conservatory. Enjoying great popularity in his country of birth, he performed at the inauguration of Georgian President Saakashvili in 2004.

Korsantia’s live recordings, on two discs, present an attractive programme carefully chosen from recitals he has given since 1995 in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Toulouse, Boston and New York. The first CD features arrangements of Bach by Busoni, Egon Petri and Myra Hess’s famous version of the chorale Jesu, Joy of Men's Desiring, two Piano Sonatas by Haydn and Mozart’s Sonata in C major, KV330 and 20th century Russian and Georgian music. Korsantia has rearranged Gwido Agosti’s magnificent 1934 piano transcription of the last three pieces from The Firebird Suite to reflect more of Stravinsky's original orchestral sound. Stravinsky’s Tango is followed by Giya Kancheli’s Instead of Tango originally written in 1996 for violin, piano, bandoneon and double bass. Kancheli’s own piano arrangement is dedicated to three Georgian pianists, one of them Alexander Korsantia. The second disc is devoted to Sergei Prokofiev: his Pastoral Sonatina and Vision Fugitive, No 11, Op 22 bookend the Piano Sonata No 7 in B flat major and the substantial Piano Sonata No 8.

Features five works new to Kapell’s discography: Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 7, Debussy’s Suite bergamasque, Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op. 60 & Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20, Kapell’s rendition of ‘God Save the Queen’

A virtuoso pianist of the mid-twentieth century, William Kapell’s brooding good looks and explosive interpretations of Russian piano literature made him a star. His death in a plane crash at the age of 31 put an end to a career marked by fiery personality, technical mastery, and unstinting devotion to his craft. Many considered him the first virtuoso American pianist — certainly the most famous one until Van Cliburn — whose early death denied him more enduring popularity. These recordings are a stirring reminder of the talent upon which his fame rested during his lifetime

This digitally remastered two-disc set — the latest in Sony BMG Masterworks’ reDiscovered series — compiles performances from four of the concerts on Kapell’s tour of Australia and makes them available for the first time as a lasting tribute to the incredible talent and influence of William Kapell.