The Serbian-American Paris-based pianist Ivan Ilic (FEU & Harriet Hale Woolley alumnus) has signed a new multi-album recording contract with Chandos Records, following internationally acclaimed recordings of works by Godowsky and Feldman. His first project on the label is a series devoted to the solo piano works of the Czech composer Antoine Reicha, a contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven. Although best known for his contributions to the repertoire for wind quintet, Reicha wrote vast quantities of solo piano music, most of which has never been recorded. The manuscripts, preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, were published only recently. Offering premiere recordings of the Grande Sonate in C major, the Sonata in F major, and three excerpts from Practische Beispiele, this first volume confirms Reicha as an authoritative, singular voice, whose piano works complement and enrich our understanding of Haydn and Beethoven. Volume 1 is a coproduction of Chandos, RTS (Swiss Radio), and the Palazzetto Bru Zane– Centre de Musique Romantique Française in Venice.
Program
Ludwig van Beethoven
Nine variations variations on a March by Dressler in C minor, BWV 63
Anton Reicha
5 Études op.97
Grand Sonata in C major
Piotr Illitch Tchaïkovsky
Rêverie du soir op.19 n°1
Nocturne op.19 n°4
Waltz op.40 n°8
Rachamaninoff
Prélude op.23 n°4
Ivan Ilic’s Biography
Pianist Ivan Ilić took degrees in mathematics and music at UC Berkeley before winning a “Premier Prix” at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris. The City of Paris sponsored his first recording. Career highlights include recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio. He recently gave recital débuts in Vienna, Sao Paulo, Geneva and Berlin. Ivan’s recordings – 24 Préludes by Claude Debussy [2008], Godowsky’s Chopin Studies for the Left Hand [2012], The Transcendentalist [2014], and Ivan Ilić plays Morton Feldman [2015] – have been exceptionally well-received by the press, and are regularly broadcast across six continents. His next CD [2017] will be dedicated to Antoine Reicha, Beethoven’s Czech lifetime friend and rival. You can follow Ivan Ilic on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram