Busoni: Contrapuntal Fantasy, Chopin Variations, First and Second Sonatinas, Bach Transcriptions

Peter Donohoe's first album, dedicated to Busoni, was enthusiastically received by critics and nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award. This second installment in the series offers playing and musicianship of the same high standard. His program begins with two of Busoni's finest Bach transcriptions, which are widely considered the pinnacle of the repertoire for pianistic virtuosity and are performed far more frequently than Busoni's own compositions. This is followed by the "Variations on Chopin's Prelude in C Minor" – a work in which Busoni demonstrates his innate talent for reinterpretation and his mastery of counterpoint; it is a piece he revised several times. The following works are "pure Busoni" – the first and second sonatinas as well as the "Fantasia contrappuntistica" in the composer's later arrangement for two pianos. Karl Lutchmayer, the first Steinway artist of Indian descent, is equally known as a concert pianist, lecturer, and radio broadcaster. He accompanies Peter Donohoe in the Fantasia and also plays the second sonatina.