Mary Dullea – Persian Autumn (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:39 minutes | 1,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Metier
Both enjoying successful and acclaimed international reputations, the two Iranian composers here represent two generations of musicians trained in the West. Hormoz Farhat, born in 1928, was the first Iranian to study music in the USA, taking classes with Darius Milhaud, Lukas Foss and Roy Harris. He worked at UCLA for many years before returning to Iran. His music is in many genres and has been performed in the USA and throughout Europe. His two substantial piano sonatas are major contributions to the genre. Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour (b.1974) carries on this tradition and studied in the UK and Denmark, where his new opera is to be premiered in 2020. His work draws on Persian influences and subjects in a truly cosmopolitan way, demonstrated well by the pieces on this album. Mary Dullea enjoys a very busy career as a soloist and chamber musician and regularly performs and broadcasts in many countries. Her discography is exceptional and demonstrates her support and championing of new music. Her pianism and musicality as well as remarkable virtuosity makes her an ideal interpreter.
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Mary Dullea – Eric Craven: Pieces for Pianists, Vol. 1 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:10:54 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Metier
For most of his life Eric Craven has kept a very low profile, concentrating on his teaching career and quietly developing his ‘non-prescriptive’ composing method, a sort of aleatory style but which allows the performer varying degrees of freedom. His earlier cycle of short pieces, ‘SET’, was recorded after Craven was persuaded by leading pianists to make his work available. Highly praised, that technique is shown again to great effect in the ‘Pieces for Pianists’, producing music that is varied, interesting, but perfectly accessible for listener and performer. The composer states that his hope is ‘to reward any pianist with even modest ability with immediate success’ while also providing a challenge to more accomplished pianists to explore new territory. The pianist says that this collection ‘will prove endlessly rewarding’.
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