Search - Ferruccio Busoni, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz [Vienna] Schubert :: Dmitry Paperno: German Program

Pianist Dmitry Paperno's second recording on Cedille Records embraces four periods in the development of German music, with works of Bach-Busoni, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms. The unusual liner notes for this stimulating program take the form of a Q&A interview between Paperno and producer James Ginsburg that elicits insightful commentary about each piece and the program's overall concept. Paperno describes Busoni's transcription of Bach's Chaconne as "religious in its insight and grandeur, without being sacred." He finds Beethoven's early Piano Sonata No. 7 "so varied, so full of different impressions of life," considering Beethoven's youth at the time. Paperno first took a performing interest in Schubert's Fantasy when he heard it on a TV commercial(!). Brahms' 7 Fantasies, Op. 116, are "philosophy in sound -- music made for forever," Paperno says.