Galina Ustvolskaya - Piano sonatas (1994/1995/1998/1993)
Contemporary | 2 x EAC (APE + CUE) / 1 x MP3~180VBR / 1 x AVI (XVID 720x576; MP3~192) | no covers | score in pdf | 193 + 199 + 101 + 214 MB
Performed by Oleg Malov (grand piano) / Frank Denyer (grand piano) / Markus Hinterhäuser (grand piano) / Reinbert de Leeuw (grand piano).
For our hardcore, here's a triple bill on Ustvolskaya's piano sonatas, written between 1947 and 1988. As Reinbert de Leeuw puts it in the Dutch documentary series 'Tone masters' from 1993: "To study this, to really get involved, is in the first place painful, it demands unbelievably much force of the player, dynamic signatures range between 3 and 6 fortes. In the beginning I had to stop practising after 10 minutes, because it just got to painful for my hands. And that is a peculiar experience, that you're busy for hours and hours with a piece in which you just hammer away with extreme force on a piano". If you read the accompanying scores, you may see what he is talking about.
Performances by Oleg Malov (Ustvolskaya interpretor from the first hour), Frank Denyer (who obviously takes his time), and Markus Hinterhäuser. The first two are delivered as an eac, the latter as mp3, unfortunately, but I throw it in just the same, for comparison's sake. As a bonus, there's a video holding a full performance of the fifth sonata by Reinbert de Leeuw (the piece was actually written for him), recorded somewhere in St. Petersburg, early nineties, derived from the above mentioned documentary.
Galina Ustvolskaya - Piano sonatas (1994)Contemporary | EAC (APE + CUE) | no covers | score in pdf | 193 MB
Performed by Oleg Malov (grand piano).
| “ | This CD contains six works. Like me, I suspect many listeners will find they must take them one or two (at most) at a time-such is their demand on our attention, such is their ferocity of focus. Oleg Malov was close to the composer and premiered many of these works. He seems to understand Ustvolskya's intentions perfectly. One cannot imagine his performances bettered. Indeed, No.3 was written for him.
The piano that is uncovered, or perhaps recovered, for us by these works is sparse, dry, sometimes percussive, and highly articulate. Every detail of melodic line, every voice of counterpoint, every rhythmic cell, every jarring cluster, and every pianissimo/fortissimo contrast, is placed before the ear for precise acknowledgment. Ustvolskaya permits no emotive blurring, no sustaining pedals, no rubatos, no arpeggios, and no grace notes or filigree embellishments. Nothing but listening is required. How big a task mere listening turns out to be. | ” |
1. Sonata nr. 1 (1947) (9:24)
2. Sonata nr. 2 (1949) (7:00)
3. Sonata nr. 3 (1952) (15:26)
4. Sonata nr. 4 (1957) (13:39)
5. Sonata nr. 5 (1986) (15:17)
6. Sonata nr. 6 (1988) (6:42)
Total time: 67:18
Performed by Oleg Malov (grand piano).
Recorded at the St. Petersburg Radio House (Russia) in August/September 1993.
Released by Megadisc, presumably in 1994, as MDC 7876.
Packed as a contiguous zip inside a multi-part 7z, served by RS, redirected through tinyurl.
Tiny parts at 5p6uzs and 5akgys.
Score at 6ehm9c.
Galina Ustvolskaya - The complete piano sonatas (1995)Contemporary | EAC (APE + CUE) | no covers | score in pdf | 199 MB
Performed by Frank Denyer (grand piano).
| “ | Frank Denyer's recording for Conifer Classics ((75605 512622) is notable both for his very personal notes and the intensity of his totally committed performances. He reminds us of Ustvolskaya's spirituality and belief that her music speaks most clearly given in religious settings, representing fear of God, a gaze into the abyss leaving the listener ultimately "dazed and isolated in inner darkness". This recording is indispensable. | ” |
Sonata nr. 1 (1947)
1. I (1:26)
2. II (1:23)
3. III (4:06)
4. IV (3:40)
Sonata nr. 2 (1949)
5. I (3:10)
6. II (7:00)
Sonata nr. 3 (1952)
7. Sonata nr. 3 (19:45)
Sonata nr. 4 (1957)
8. I (2:07)
9. II (2:18)
10. III (1:06)
11. IV (5:03)
5. Sonata nr. 5 (1986)
12. I (1:07)
13. II (2:14)
14. III (1:12)
15. IV (0:57)
16. V (3:08)
17. VI (0:55)
18. VII (2:29)
19. VIII (1:16)
20. IX (1:56)
21. X (1:50)
Sonata nr. 6 (1988)
22. Sonata nr. 6 (1988) (7:58)
Total time: 76:35
Performed by Frank Denyer (grand piano).
Recorded at the Hilversum Conservatory (The Netherlands) on January 23 & 31, 1995.
Released by Conifer in 1995, as CC 75605 51262 2.
Packed as a contiguous zip inside a multi-part 7z, served by RS, redirected through tinyurl.
Tiny parts at 6ak6gm and 5jts9m.
Score at 6ehm9c.
Galina Ustvolskaya - Piano sonatas (1998)Contemporary | separate MP3's ~180VBR | no covers | score in pdf | 101 MB
Performed by Markus Hinterhäuser (grand piano).
| “ | Mr. Hinterhäuser is an effective pianist, his interpretations, while lacking the sheer physicality of Ms. Schroeder's, do offer another dimension to Ms. Ustvolskaya's compositions - that of space. Hinterhäuser looks to the gaps, the rests between her intervals, for the subtleties in her austere lines and chords, for inspiration, and for revelation. And it works. Hinterhäuser concerned himself with the spiritual element that is clearly at the heart of Galina Ustvolskaya's work, and has moved through his use of her space to turn pessimism into a kind of frustrated longing, which, given her few statements over these last three decades, is an accurate appraisal of her aim. | ” |
1. Sonata nr. 1 (1947) (9:40)
2. Sonata nr. 2 (1949) (11:16)
3. Sonata nr. 3 (1952) (17:32)
4. Sonata nr. 4 (1957) (11:06)
5. Sonata nr. 5 (1986) (16:15)
6. Sonata nr. 6 (1988) (7:13)
Total time: 73:02
Performed by Markus Hinterhäuser (grand piano).
Released by Col Legno in 1998, as WWE 20019.
Packed as a contiguous zip inside a multi-part 7z, served by RS, redirected through tinyurl.
Tiny parts at 5lxatf and 64qnky.
Score at 6ehm9c.
Galina Ustvolskaya - Piano sonata nr. 5 (1993)
Contemporary/documentary | 21:23 | VHS >>> AVI (Video: XVID 720x576 25.00fps 1200Kbps; audio: MPEG Audio Layer 3 44100Hz stereo 192Kbps) | 214 MB
Performed by Reinbert de Leeuw (grand piano).
| “ | To study this, to really get involved, is in the first place painful, it demands unbelievably much force of the player, dynamic signatures range between 3 and 6 fortes. In the beginning I had to stop practising after 10 minutes, because it just got to painful for my hands. And that is a peculiar experience, that you're busy for hours and hours with a piece in which you just hammer away with extreme force on a piano. Reinbert de Leeuw (in 'Tone masters', VPRO, 1993) | ” |
1. Sonata nr. 5 (1986) (21:23)
Performed by Reinbert de Leeuw (grand piano).
Released by VPRO in 1993.
Packed as a contiguous zip inside a multi-part 7z, served by RS, redirected through tinyurl.
Tiny parts at 5oow4n, 3w5ubv, and 6bspll.
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