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How many times have I written that I completely adore the recordings of piano made by Eudora founder and chief recording engineer Gonzalo Noqué? Let me say it yet again: his recordings are my ideal for how a piano should be recorded. He manages to achieve a perfect balance of direct and reflected sound, the detail is precise and highly resolved but the microphones are not jammed up against the string or buried in the piano case. The tone is invariably full, rounded, golden with the capture of immense multitudes of harmonics. The beautiful timbre of the instrument being recorded simply flows out of his recordings. I can listen to any of them over and over again, and I always look forward to his next release.

Pianist Domenico Codispoti brings a delightfully fresh and vibrant perspective to these pieces. His playing is subtle, flexible, delicate and, where called upon, very powerful. He seduces with these pieces. What a delightful addition to my musical education and my music library are these performances!

Rushton Paul - Source

Classical Music Sentinel

Despite being short (some of them cover only one page and last about 30 seconds), the 24 Preludes, Op. 28 by Frédéric Chopin are bursts of creativity and imagination that express a variety of profound sentiments within their scope. They were composed during a particularly bad winter when Chopin’s health was on the decline, but most of them are more substantial and more emotionally stimulating than much longer efforts by lesser composers.

Alfred Cortot, the first pianist to release a recording back in 1926 of the complete set, added a brief descriptive epithet to each prelude in an attempt to identify the emotive creative impulse behind each one. Tags such as Rebellion, Descent into the abyss, Death is here in the shadows, Fear, Above a grave, Tree full of songs, etc … go a long way in establishing the mood within each piece, that pianists can use as an expressive springboard for their individual interpretation.

Italian pianist Domenico Codispoti delves deep behind the notes on the page. He enhances each one’s introspective temperament and persona. From the deep melancholy of No. 6 Lento assai, to the exhilaration of No. 16 Presto con fuoco and the all-out rage of No. 22 Molto agitato (audio clip below), Codispoti, whilst always maintaining a perfect dynamic balance between the main melody and the harmonic body of each piece, exposes their creative impulse.

The ten pieces that comprise On an Overgrown Path by Czech composer Leoš Janáček are much more Schumannesque in style and nature. So much so that I’m reminded of Schumann’s own Kinderszenen, as each individual piece, influenced by Moravian folklore, is like a snapshot of a distant past memory, maybe from childhood. And again, Domenico Codispoti well captures and projects each one’s individual character. As well, the dramatic urgency that he instills to the incomplete Sonata “1. X. 1905“ will entice you to research that work’s troubled existence.

Jean-Yves Duperron - Source