Mily Balakirev - Piano Works Vol. 2 (Nicholas Walker)

Information

Composer: Mily Balakirev

1. Waltz No. 1 in G major (Valse di bravura)
2. Nocturne No. 1 in B flat minor
3. Waltz No. 2 in F minor (Valse mélancolique)
4. Waltz No. 3 in D major (Valse-Impromptu)
5. Nocturne No. 2 in B minor
6. Waltz No. 4 in B flat major (Valse de concert)
7. Nocturne No. 3 in D minor
8. Waltz No. 5 in D flat major
9. Nocturne in G sharp minor
10. Fantasiestück in D flat major
11. Waltz No. 6 in F sharp minor
12. Chant du pêcheur
13. Waltz No. 7 in G sharp minor

Nicholas Walker, piano

Date: 2016

Label: Grand Piano

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Review

An outstanding concert pianist and distinguished conductor, Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev championed the music of others at the expense of his own compositions. Today he is the forgotten leader of ‘The Mighty Handful’, a group of Russian composers that included Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Mussorgsky, his name now hanging by a thread, Islamey being the only score we regularly find in the concert hall repertoire. That makes the present disc—the second in a series of his complete piano works—most valuable and desirable. It covers the period 1898 to 1906, the last sector of his life, and the one were he could, at long last, concentrate on composing. Having been much influenced by Chopin, he here uses the format and names the Polish composer had made familiar. Yet throughout his music is quintessentially Russian, often stormy, and expressed in a technically demanding language. The opening Valse di Bravura, a virtuoso showpiece, sets the scene for the remaining thirteen tracks, each of a length that allows him to develop the thematic material, often with considerable complexity. Throughout these are such pleasing scores, while such works as the fourth waltz, Valse de Concert, should be an absolute gift to today’s young pianists as the most exciting finale to a recital imaginable. The Nocturnes are mostly in a more restrained mood, and the gently lilting Chant du Pecheur is particularly  beautiful. Ending in the whirlwind and exhilarating seventh Waltz, the British pianist, Nicholas Walker, one of Balakirev’s foremost champions, is in every way superb, and I most strongly commend the disc to you.

-- David Denton

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Mily Balakirev (21 December 1836 – 16 May 1910) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. He was leader of the Russian nationalist group of composers now known as The Five (or The Mighty Handful), including him, Alexander Borodin, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. It has been said that it was Balakirev, even more than Glinka, who set the course for Russian orchestral music and lyrical song during the second half of the 19th century. His most famous works include the brilliant piano fantasy Islamey, Overture on Russian Themes, Symphony No. 1, and the symphonic poem Tamara.

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Nicholas Walker studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Moscow Conservatoire. He has performed with major British orchestras, given recitals worldwide, and recorded for the BBC, BMG Arte Nova, ASV, Chandos and Danacord labels. He is also sought after as an imaginative and sensitive accompanist. Although his Beethoven performances have brought him special critical acclaim, Walker is best known for championing the neglected leader of 'The Mighty Handful', Mili Alekseyevich Balakirev. In 2010 he organised the Balakirev Centenary concerts in London. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Music.

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