Bruckner: Piano Works

Title: Bruckner: Piano Works Label: CPO Duration: 47:11 Album Type(s): performer(s) biography, Special essay (music history, styles, etc.), composition (work) description UPC: 761203925629 Genre: Keyboard Music Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 0 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Lancier-Quadrille, for piano in C major, WAB 120
   - Part 1
2. Lancier-Quadrille, for piano in C major, WAB 120
   - Part 2
3. Lancier-Quadrille, for piano in C major, WAB 120
   - Part 3
4. Lancier-Quadrille, for piano in C major, WAB 120
   - Part 4
5. Steiermärker, for piano in G major, WAB 122
6. Quadrille, for piano, 4 hands in A major, WAB 121
   - Pantalon (Andante con moto)
7. Quadrille, for piano, 4 hands in A major, WAB 121
   - Ete (Allegretto)
8. Quadrille, for piano, 4 hands in A major, WAB 121
   - Poule (Amabile)
9. Quadrille, for piano, 4 hands in A major, WAB 121
   - Trenis (Pathetico)
10. Quadrille, for piano, 4 hands in A major, WAB 121
    - Pastourelle (Grazioso)
11. Quadrille, for piano, 4 hands in A major, WAB 121
    - Finale (Poco animato)
12. Kleine Vortragsstüke (3), for piano, 4 hands, WAB 124
    - Langsam
13. Kleine Vortragsstüke (3), for piano, 4 hands, WAB 124
    - Allegro moderato
14. Kleine Vortragsstüke (3), for piano, 4 hands, WAB 124
    - Langsam, feierlich-schneller
15. Klavierstück, for piano in E flat major, WAB 119
16. Sonata first movements (3), for piano
    - Sonatensatz in g-moll
17. Stille Betrachtung an einem Herbstabend, for piano in F sharp minor, WAB 123
18. Fantasie, for piano in G major, WAB 118
19. Erinnerung, for piano in A flat major, WAB 117

For a Bruckner aficionado, this disc of his miscellaneous piano music is a wonderful find. The chance to hear one of Bruckner's earliest secular works (the Lancier-Quadrille from around 1850), the opportunity to hear a massive sonata movement from just before he composed his first symphony (the Sonata from 1862), the occasion to hear an extended fantasy from just before his first published symphony, the Erinnerung from about 1868: these are things the dedicated Brucknerian will not what to miss. Of course, whether even the most dedicated Brucknerian will ever listen to this disc more than once is debatable because most of Bruckner's piano music is terrible. Bruckner's Quadrilles are annoying, his Sonata is pretentious, and his fantasy is puerile. And those are the interesting pieces. The rest is almost unbearable. But if a Bruckner aficionado has to hear a disc of Bruckner's piano music, this is the disc to hear. Pianist Wolfgang Brunner does a wonderful job of breathing life into the music. It does help that Brunner is playing a Bosendorfer built before 1835, thereby giving an air of gentility to the music. And it doesn't hurt that CPO has recorded Brunner and his Bosendorfer in clean, quiet, and unobtrusively atmospheric sound. This is mandatory for the dedicated Bruckner aficionado, but don't expect the Symphony No. 9. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide

Name Credits Edgar Gruber Engineer Franz Josef Kerstinger Recording Supervision, Digital Editing Heinz Dieter Sibitz Digital Editing Johann Sperl Cover Painting Sophie Liwszyc Liner Note Translation Susan Marie Praeder Liner Note Translation Wolfgang Brunner Liner Notes, Piano