Steinway & Sons Record Label Releases “A Grand Romance”
The latest Steinway & Sons release evokes a golden era of the piano virtuoso—a sonic splendor with impeccable musicianship from Steinway Artist Jeffrey Biegel
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (May 7, 2013) — Steinway & Sons Record Label releases pianist Jeffrey Biegel’s new album A Grand Romance on May 7, 2013. This recording celebrates the intimacy of the relationship between pianist and public, from the early romantic blush of the 1830s through the 20th century, with a sampling of miniatures proper to recital hall, salon or parlor: diminutive études and atmospheric morceaux caractéristiques, novelty items and technical dazzlers.
A Grand Romance features musical miniatures penned by accomplished keyboardists and composers such as Moszkowski, Schütt, Bortkiewicz, Paderewski, and Rubinstein, among many others. These works wooed Western audiences into a new era of fiery emotive expression and Jeffrey Biegel takes on these transformative works with seemingly effortless bravura.
Moritz Moszkowski’s Caprice espagnol, Étincelles, and La Jongleuse are presented here, in all of their pictorial glory. Étincelles, or “Sparks,” is a work of perpetual motion, an unbroken swirl of combustibility that nods to its own title. Henselt’s “Si oiseau j’étais, à toi je volerais” revels in a breezy flutter, and his Petit Valse No. 1, written 15 years later is a paradigm of simply elegant salon music. Schulz-Evler’s intricate embellishments on Johann Strauss’s By the Beautiful Danube offer players a chance to dazzle and delight in the luxuriant melodies and luscious sounds.
This album paints across the 19th and early 20th centuries and Biegel provides a Josef Lhévinne style salon performance. He plucks these works carefully and offers them as gifts, perfectly wrapped for our enjoyment.
Jeffrey Biegel’s recent recordings include the 2011 bestselling A Steinway Christmas Album as well as the debut Steinway & Sons label release, Bach On A Steinway. He has also recorded Leroy Anderson’s Concerto in C, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Millennium Fantasy and Peanuts Gallery, and a solo Vivaldi disc for Naxos. His recording of the complete piano sonatas of Mozart was released by E1. In 2010, he performed world premieres of Richard Danielpour’s Mirrors for Piano and Orchestra, and William Bolcom’s Prometheus for Piano, Orchestra and Chorus. He has premiered new works and arrangements with the Boston Pops, New York Pops, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, as well as the symphony orchestras of Minnesota, Indianapolis, and Harrisburg, among others. Mr. Biegel is currently on the piano faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
About Steinway & Sons
Since its founding in New York in 1853, Steinway & Sons has been considered the world's premier piano manufacturer. Known for their exceptional craftsmanship, Steinway & Sons pianos are built in one of two company-owned and operated factories: Astoria, New York and Hamburg, Germany. Steinway & Sons pianos are still constructed primarily by hand, using many of the techniques developed over 160 years ago. Today, Steinway & Sons also offers the Boston and Essex piano lines, Listen, a magazine for music and culture lovers, and the Steinway & Sons record label. For more information, visit www.steinway.com.
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