David Toradze: Piano Concerto [DSD EP + Interview]

A memory from Gianandrea Noseda: "Alexander 'Lexo' Toradze and I shared the stage many times. It was one of the great artistic partnerships for me and included multiple Prokofiev’s piano concerti cycles, both Shostakovich’s Piano concerti, Stravinsky, Ravel G-major, Rachmaninoff nr. 3, and Tchaikovsky nr. 1. But what makes me proudest is that we were able to perform his father David Toradze’s Piano concerto in Turin in January 2005. I knew the piece because I prepared the work for Valery Gergiev a few years earlier in St. Petersburg. The performance in Turin was incredibly touching because I had the impression that Lexo was finally able to reconcile with his father who had passed away a few weeks after he defected from the Soviet Union in 1983. Lexo’s relationship with the memory of his father was difficult and he seemed to be carrying the moral responsibility for his death. Lexo and I had also planned to present the Georgian premiere of David Toradze’s Piano concerto in summer 2020 as part of the Tsinandali Festival but the pandemic forced the cancellation of the festival. This recording represents therefore Lexo’s spiritual heritage. It is not only a tribute to his intimately tormented relationship with his father, but also to the entire Toradze’s family, his mother Liana and his sister Nino. I am honoured to have been a part of it, and it is a memory of my friendship with this incredible artist." Alexander Toradze is universally recognized as a masterful virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition. He has enriched the Great Russian pianistic heritage with his own unorthodox interpretative conceptions, deeply poetic lyricism, and intensely emotional excitement. David Toradze: Piano Concerto represents therefore Lexo’s spiritual heritage. It is not only a tribute to his intimately tormented relationship with his father, but also to the entire Toradze’s family, his mother Liana and his sister Nino. I am honoured to have been a part of it, and it is a memory of my friendship with this incredible artist.

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Alexander Toradze, Oiano Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Gianandrea Noseda, Conductor