The Piano: A Journey from Hubris to Humility

Track Listings

1. Liszt: Fountains at the Villa d'Este

2. Liszt: B-Minor Sonata

3. Bach: Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, Book One (Prelude)

4. Bach: Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, Book Two (Fugue)

5. Ravel: Jeux d'eau

6. Ravel: La Valse

7. Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte

Editorial Reviews
From the Artist
"Les Jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este" is influenced by the famous fountains at Villa d’Este in Tivoli, outside of Rome. The music evokes the splendor of the waterworks and rivals their beauty with the piece’s enchanting harmonic style. Liszt took inspiration from the gospel of St. John in this composition: "But the water which I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water leaping into eternal life." Liszt’s work foreshadows Ravel’s "Jeux d’Eau." Not unlike his smaller works, Liszt’s B-Minor Sonata takes the audience on a transformative journey, binding all of its thematic sections into a unified whole. These themes cover the gamut of human emotion and spirituality, from wild outrage to transcendent acceptance and peace. Liszt’s fugue, which follows the slow middle section of the sonata, reflects Liszt’s love and reverence for Bach. Ravel’s completed his lyrical and famous "Pavane pour une infante défunte" during his years at the Paris Conservatory.! "La Valse" began as an homage to Johann Strauss. Ravel described the earlier 1914 version of the work as "a sort of apotheosis of the Viennese waltz", with "the impression of a fantastic and fatal whirling." When making this recording, we wanted to give the listener the experience of a concert performance in a great concert hall, not the surgical "in-your-face" sound one hears so often in new recordings. I hope you feel like you are sitting in the tenth row of magnificent Zipper Hall in Los Angeles.

Album Description
Yarlung Records recorded this American Debut Album for David Fung before his 2005 world concert tour. David won the International Klaviersommer Festival Competition in Germany in 2004, and also captured the People’s Choice Award. David combines keyboard fireworks with a mature and refined sensibility. He expresses personal tenderness and vulnerability in the introspective passages. David chose both virtuoso showpieces and works of ethereal simplicity. Few pianists do both so well. David reminds one of concert artists like Andras Schiff and Martha Argerich who also combine extraordinary pianistic display and musical subtlety. This recording reveals David’s extraordinary breadth of expression, from the ethereal and emotionally mature Bach Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor (David is unafraid of the emotional detail and color that a modern concert grand piano can reveal in this piece) to the Four Hands La Valse, Ravel’s black, bitter and surreal response to World War One. Many of us know this work in its orchestral version. On our recording, David treats us to his own rendition of Ravel’s rarely performed transcription for solo piano, incorporating many sections from the Four Hands edition for two pianos, and adding additional material from the full orchestral score. This piece is rarely recorded by one pianist in any version: Glenn Gould’s simplified transcription is a notable exception. David’s technical and emotional scope as a pianist captures the full range of hubris (or outrage and arrogance) and surrender and humility, contained in this program. We used the legendary AKG C-24 microphone, with its original tube in good condition. To achieve the greatest possible transparency, to capture the sound and decay correctly, and to preserve the natural soundstage, this album was recorded in only two tracks, using equipment and cables designed or reengineered specifically for Yarlung Records. For this digital pressing, we used HDCD encoding, to preserve 20-Bit resolution on playback. This CD will play normally on most recent CD players, even those not equipped for full HDCD playback. Mastered by Steve Hoffman.

Tracks:

Liszt: Fountains at the Villa d'Este
Liszt: B-Minor Sonata
Bach: Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, Book One (Prelude)
Bach: Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, Book Two (Fugue)
Ravel: Jeux d'eau
Ravel: La Valse
Ravel: Pavane pour une infante dnte

Product Description

Yarlung Records recorded this American Debut Album for David Fung before his 2005 world concert tour. David won the International Klaviersommer Festival Competition in Germany in 2004, and alsocaptured the People's Choice Award. David combines keyboard fireworks with a mature and refined sensibility. David chose both virtuoso showpieces and works of ethereal simplicity. Few pianists do both so well. David reminds one of concert artists like Andras Schiff and Martha Argerich who also combine extraordinary pianistic display and musical subtlety. This recording reveals David's extraordinary breadth of expression, from the ethereal and emotionally mature Bach Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor (David is unafraid of the emotional detail and color that a modern concert grand piano can reveal in this piece) to the Four Hands La Valse, Ravel's black, bitter and surreal response to World War One. Many of us know this work in its orchestral version. On our recording, David treats us to his own rendition of Ravel's rarely performed transcription for solo piano, incorporating many sections from the Four Hands edition for two pianos, and adding additional material from the full orchestral score. David's technical and emotional scope as a pianist captures the full range of hubris (or outrage and arrogance) and surrender and humility, contained in this program. We used the legendary AKG C-24 microphone, with its original tube in good condition. To achieve the greatest possible transparency, to capture the sound and decay correctly, and to preserve the natural soundstage, this album was recorded in only two tracks, using equipment and cables designed or reengineered specifically for Yarlung Records. For this digital pressing, we used HDCD encoding, to preserve 20-Bit resolution on playback. This CD will play normally on most recent CD players, even those not equipped for full HDCD playback. Mastered by Steve Hoffman.

Customer Reviews:

What a breath of fresh air. And what a musical performance!.......2005-08-13

What an aptly named CD. Not since the long-gone days of "high fidelity" (1970-1974, the quintessence of the analog era) have I heard such beautiful recorded tone from a piano. Highs clear but round and warm, lows rich and defined. The overtones not "mathematized" out of shape, as in so many digital recordings from the last 15 years. The artist, David Fung, has a touch that brings out the beauty of the sound as well as its variety. And his performances cast new perspectives on the works he interprets. I particularly enjoyed the contrasting readings of the Bach and the Ravel. Each so interesting and so different.(!) I am a particular fan of the Liszt B Minor Sonata. Before hearing David Fung, my favorites were the early Horowitz, and the Richter on Mercury. Now I have three favorites.

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1. Liszt: Fountains at the Villa d'Este
2. Liszt: B-Minor Sonata
3. Bach: Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, Book One (Prelude)
4. Bach: Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, Book Two (Fugue)
5. Ravel: Jeux d'eau
6. Ravel: La Valse
7. Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte