Ilona Prunyi — Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Naxos (Audio CD)

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Product Details

• UPC: 4891030502338
• Catalogue Number: 8.550233
• Product Type: Audio CD
• Label: Naxos
• Artist: Ilona Prunyi (piano)
• Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Release Year: 1989
• Genre: Classical, Piano
• Country of Producing: Germany

Product Features

• Format: Compact Disc, DDD
• Playing Time: 51'25"
• Recorded: 13–14 July 1988, Italian Institute, Budapest
• Sealed / factory-wrapped

Overview

Naxos built its reputation on exactly this kind of release: a serious, well-prepared performance of a beloved cycle, priced so a curious listener didn't have to think twice. The Seasons, Tchaikovsky's twelve character pieces written for a St. Petersburg music magazine, one per month, feels almost like a diary — nothing grand or symphonic, just small, vivid moods captured in miniature. January's fireside warmth gives way to a skittering February carnival, a wistful March lark-song, and by June, the famous Barcarolle drifts along like a boat on still water.

Ilona Prunyi plays it straight and unfussy, which suits the music. These are salon pieces at heart, written for amateurs to play at home, and Prunyi never over-inflates them into something they're not. She lets November's Troika trot along with real charm and gives December's waltz just enough sentiment without tipping into syrup. The disc rounds out with four shorter Tchaikovsky pieces — the aching Chanson triste, two Songs Without Words, and a Nocturne — all cut from the same intimate cloth.

Interesting Facts

• The Seasons, Op. 37b, was written on commission for the St. Petersburg journal Nuvellist, which published one piece a month through 1876 — Tchaikovsky reportedly needed reminding by his valet to finish each installment on deadline.
• Despite its modest scope, the cycle became one of the most-performed sets of Russian piano miniatures, a staple of conservatory teaching repertoire to this day.
• June's "Barcarolle" is by far the most recorded single movement from the set and is often excerpted on its own in recital programs.
• Ilona Prunyi is a Budapest-born pianist who built a substantial discography for Naxos and Hungaroton, much of it devoted to lesser-played Romantic and Hungarian repertoire.
• This 1988 recording was made at the Italian Institute in Budapest, a venue Naxos used frequently for its early Hungarian sessions.
• The liner notes were prepared by Keith Anderson, whose musicological notes appeared across hundreds of early Naxos releases.

Track Listing

The Seasons, Op. 37b: 1. January: By the Fireside (4:57) / 2. February: Carnaval (2:40) / 3. March: Song of the Lark (2:02) / 4. April: Snowdrop (2:22) / 5. May: May Nights (3:49) / 6. June: Barcarolle (4:48) / 7. July: Song of the Reaper (1:53) / 8. August: The Harvest (3:22) / 9. September: The Hunt (2:20) / 10. October: Autumn Song (3:58) / 11. November: Troika (2:37) / 12. December: Christmas (4:31)

Bonus tracks: 13. Chanson triste in G Minor (3:14) / 14. Song Without Words in A Minor (2:03) / 15. Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (3:31) / 16. Song Without Words in F (3:18)

Publishers

Naxos, catalogue 8.550233. Manufactured in Germany. Distributed by MVD Music und Video Distribution GmbH, Unterhaching-München.

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