Piano music is central to Valentin Silvestrov’s output. With its frequent allusions to lingering recollections of the past, this programme presents an overview of various creative periods. It begins with the composer’s reworkings of youthful sketches (Naive Musik), followed by Der Bote (The Messenger) with its beautiful Mozartian theme leading into a sonatina in the style of the 18th century.

After recent works from Silvestrov’s self–defined ‘Bagatelle’ period, the recording concludes with the striking Kitschmusik, which engages with the music of Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. The Two Waltzes are dedicated to Elisaveta Blumina.

Elisaveta Blumina made her concert début as a soloist at the age of sixteen with the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.1, which led to studies at the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg and at the Conservatoire in Berne, and winning the International Brahms Piano Competition along the way. Her recordings of Mieczyslav’s piano and chamber music has brought her international acclaim. Her career has taken her to halls such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Laeisz–Halle in Hamburg and Carnegie Hall in New York, and to significant music festivals including the Schleswig–Holstein, Verbier, and the Lockenhaus Festival.

World Première Recordings of Naive Musik, the 2 Waltzes and the 2 Bagatelles.