Aladár Rácz (piano)
Pan Classics
PC510141)
2001
"The Viennese-born composer Hans Gál (1890-1987) was once regarded as one of the leading composers of his generation. Through his operas especially, he achieved international successes that placed his music among the core repertoire of the time. With the advent of Nazis in 1933, all publication and performance of music by Jewish composers was banned, and his music suffered a blow from which it never recovered.
Pan Classics brings you the world première recording of Hans Gál's "24 Preludes for Piano" Op.83, a wonderfully moving account by the Hungarian pianist Aladár Rácz. The work represents a distillation of a lifetime of writing for the piano, and stands as a testimony to Gál's creative imagination. No one prelude is like another, and each contains the composer's characteristic wit and overwhelming beauty."
"Vingt-quatre gemmes jaculatoires d'une élévation de pensée brucknéro-bachienne. . . . Aladár Rácz épouse avec spontanéité et naturel tous les styles de ces pièces. Fantastique, mélancolique, songeur, burlesques. . . L'un des jalons majeurs de la littérature pianistique." (Étienne Müller)
Simon Fox, 55 Carleton Road, London N7 0ET (Tel. 020 7609 4481), or e-mail at simonfox@onet.co.uk.