Credits:

Blumenfeld, Felix (1863-1931)

Description:

Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931) was a master pianist, conductor, and teacher whose classes included Simon Burrell, Maria Grinberg, and Vladimir Horowitz. Blumenfeld's work is breathtakingly beautiful, original, and sophisticated. As a child, she studied with her sister's husband, Gustav Neuhaus (father of Heinrich Neuhaus, the de facto founder of the modern Russian piano school). However, the greatest influence on the young Blumenfeld was Rimsky-Korsakov, who recognized the young pianist's talent and introduced him to leading publishers. Chopin, Wagner, and other masters of the Romantic period saw in Blumenfeld's effervescent melodies and passionate harmonies a great presence as a composer. is the quintessential work of Slavic late Romanticism: a four-part prelude in six pieces with the solemnity of an Orthodox chant, a relatively short but grandiose and tragic idiom oriented, and a characteristic inclination toward pathos, even in the major pieces.The Prelude, Op.17, is completed by the Exercise for the Left Hand, Op.36, which was widely publicized by Godowsky and Leventhal and is relatively well known. The Concert Exercise Op.24, on the other hand, is a dazzling accumulation of piano sounds, and requires skillful technique to bring the highly developed chords to life. Mark Weiner's albums for the Piano Classics label have received the highest praise from many critics.