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West of the Sun

  • West of the Sun | Joel Fan

$11.98 – $24.98

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Catalog No: RR-119
Artists: Joel Fan
Composers: Alberto Ginastera, Amy Beach, Astor Piazzolla, Ernesto Nazareth, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Margaret Bonds, Samuel Barber, William Bolcolm
Release Year: 2009-04-05
Available Formats: Downloads, HDCD, HRx
UPC/EAN: 30911111922
HRX Available On ElusiveDisc.com

Music of the Americas

Joel Fan, piano

Joel Fan’s second album for Reference Recordings, further solidifies his reputation for innovative programming and dazzling keyboard technique. Drawing on composers from North and South America, Fan makes brilliant work of major sonatas by Ginastera and Barber, along with “entertainments” by Gottschalk, Piazzolla and Villa-Lobos. Of particular interest are two little-known works by Amy Beach and the African-American composer Margaret Bonds. Another highlight is the world premiere recording of a recent suite by William Bolcom! Any piano enthusiast will enjoy this wide-ranging recital, recorded at Skywalker Sound by RR’s renowned technical guru, “Prof.” Keith O. Johnson.

On This Recording

  1. NAZARETH: Vem cá, Branquinha
  2. GOTTSCHALK: Suis Moi! Caprice
  3. PIAZZOLLA: Flora's Game – Milonga Prelude
  4. GINASTERA: Piano Sonata #1
  5. Allegro marcato
  6. Presto Misterioso
  7. Adagio molto appassionato
  8. Ruvido ed ostinato
  9. VILLA-LOBOS: Chôros No. 5, “Alma Brasileira”
  10. BEACH: Fire-flies, Op. 15 #4
  11. BONDS: Troubled Water
  12. BOLCOM: Nine New Bagatelles
  13. “…and then what happened?”
  14. …what happened
  15. …a bird comments–to another bird?
  16. …Lord Lovell’s trunk
  17. …a little story
  18. …take no prisoners
  19. …valse oubliable
  20. …benediction
  21. …pavane for the dead/hope’s feathers
  22. BARBER: Piano Sonata, Op. 26
  23. Allegro energico
  24. Allegro vivace e leggero
  25. Adagio mesto
  26. Allegro con spirito

Reviews:

“[Fan] offers nine stunningly brilliant renditions drawn from a wide range of styles and sources… Capping it all off is an arresting interpretation of Samuel Barber’s fearsome 1949 Piano Sonata. Wow.” —John Terauds, Toronto Star — [Artistic Quality:10, Sound Quality 10]

“Fan is just marvelous… A well—curated, excellently engineered program of this caliber warrants our highest recommendation.” —Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com — [Artistic Quality:10, Sound Quality 10]

“Fan’s piano textures are worth hearing in themselves, for he is an exceptionally fluent, lyrical player with a fine sense of mystery in the slow movements of the piano sonatas by Ginastera and Barber… The result is a program that alternates very gracefully between simpler and more complicated pieces; the music almost seems to breathe and ruminate on the nature of Americanness… With fine engineering, this is a masterful performance.” —All Music Guide — (****1/2 performance/****1/2 sound also named “Best Classical Releases of 2009”)

“Fan’s rendition of Barber’s technically challenging sonata, whose knockout last movement was written at the insistence of Vladimir Horowitz, is the performance by which most listeners will judge his achievement. He acquits himself wonderfully, even when compared to Horowitz and speed demon Marc—Andre Hamelin. The adagio is especially touching, and becomes more moving with repeated listening.” —Jason Victor Serinus, San Francisco Classical Voice

“His playing was the picture of textural clarity… The program’s highlight was the New York premiere of William Bolcom’s Nine New Bagatelles, a set of aphoristic, vividly drawn character pieces… Mr. Fan gave it an agile reading, with delicacy and heft carefully balanced.” —Allan Kozinn, The New York Times (about the CD release recital, 4/2009)

“He has thus created an album with more programming innovation than most such piano recitals. The composers include Gottschalk, Piazzolla, Ginastera, Villa—Lobos, Beach, Bolcom and Barber and none of the selections are overplayed “hits” of those composers either…The label’s recording engineer Keith O. Johnson used the low—noise—floor Skywalker Sound studio in the Bay Area, and the piano sound is very rich and natural against a silent background. Joel’s own program notes in the booklet are interesting reading.” —John Sunier, Audiophile Audition (*****)

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