Pontinen / Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Segerstam Piano Rhapsody CD

Roland Pontinen first entered a recording studio for BIS in 1983 - at the age of 20 - and released his debut recital disc the following year. Since then he has appeared on more than 60 discs in the label's catalogue, as soloist with orchestra, in piano recital and chamber music programs. Drawn from this impressive discography, Piano Rhapsody is a wide-ranging collection of pieces which allows US to admire the talent, the breadth of repertoire and the unquenchable curiosity of this 'pianists' pianist'. But it is also an odyssey through the piano literature, which takes in the well-known and less familiar (from F++r Elise to Carl Tausig's Johann Strauss paraphrase), and features miniatures as well as bravura works (Satie's Gnossiennes and Grieg's Piano Concerto). It also traverses a large tract of music history, making stops in the 1720s (Bach's Prelude No.1 in C major), the budding Romantic era (C.M. von Weber's Perpetuum Mobile) and 'the Age of the Great Virtuosos' (Liszt and Rubinstein, among others) and reflecting the proliferation of national schools in the early 20th century, with composers of Russian, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish and Czech extraction. All in all, the generous playing time (5 hours 20 minutes) and the wide-ranging program provide a unique opportunity to explore the piano and it's literature, with one of Sweden's finest pianists as our guide.

1. Prelude No. 1 in C Major 2. Bagatelle in a Minor, Wo059, 'FR Elise' 3. Perpetuum Mobile 4. Moment Musical in a Flat Major, D780, No. 2 5. Minuet in G minor 6. Nocturne No. 9 in B Major, Op. 32, No. 1 7. Agnus Dei 8. Prelude in D Flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15, 'Raindrop' 9. Bol?ro, Op. 19 10. Mazurka No. 20 in D Flat Major, Op. 30, No. 3 11. Mazurka No. 25 in B minor, Op. 33, No. 4 12. Nocturne No. 18 in E Major, Op. 62, No. 2 13. Sonata in F minor, L118 14. Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14 15. Tr?umerei 16. Nocturne in C Sharp minor, Op. Posth 17. Valse-Caprice in E Flat Major 18. Lilacs, Op. 21, No. 5 19. Daisies, Op. 38, No. 3 20. Polka de V.R 21. Prelude in C Sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2 22. Abendglocken 23. Liebesfreud 24. Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4 25. Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38 26. No. 1 in a Flat Major 27. No. 2 in E Major 28. No. 3 in a Flat Major 29. Valse Oubli?e No. 1 30. Man Lebt Nur Einmal 31. ?tincelles, Morceau Caract?ristique, Op. 36, No. 6 32. Clair de Lune 33. Allegro Non Troppo E Molto Maestoso 34. Andantino Simplice 35. Allegro Con Fuoco 36. Lullaby 37. Fantasy in B minor, Op. 11 38. Bryllupsdag P? Troldhaugen, Op. 65, No. 6 39. Allegro Molto Moderato 40. Adagio 41. Allegro Molto Moderato E Marcato 42. Amarcord Improvisation 43. Andaluza 44. Je Te Veux 45. Improvisation on 'Promenade Sentimentale' 46. Premi?re Gymnop?die 47. Deuxi?me Gymnop?die 48. Troisi?me Gymnop?die 49. Tango Espa±ol in A minor, Op. 164 50. Sol÷ga 51. Fantaise-Valse 52. Cinema Music 53. Nuit de No?l 54. Toccata in D minor, Op. 11 55. Danza de la Moza Donosa 56. Quejas, ? la Maja y El Ruise±or 57. Lent 58. Lent 59. Mod?r? 60. Evocaci?n 61. The Madonna of Frydek 62. Rota Reminiscence