Debussy: Deux arabesques, Estampes, Images, Chidren's Corner - Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales

Claude Debussy - Deux arabesques, Estampes, Images, Children's Corner
Maurice Ravel - Valses nobles et sentimentales

Ilja Hurník - piano

This year's ninetieth birthday finds Renaissance man Ilja Hurník still in possession of remarkable strength and vigour. After recently terminating his career as a pianist, he has gained more scope for devoting to composing and writing. Hurník studied the piano with pedagogues of such renown as V. Kurz, I. Štěpánová-Kurzová and V. Novák and has given numerous concerts abroad (including a four-hand performance with Pavel Štěpán), with his interpretations of Debussy and Janáček being particularly captivating. He has given back to Janáček the earthiness and crispness resulting from the Lachian dialect and purged Debussy of the "Impressionistic mist" and accumulated layers of brush strokes, turning the audience's attention to the compositions' subtle drawing and structure. When listening to the presented recordings, one will be hard pressed indeed to believe that they were made a full half-century ago. Hurník's ninetieth birthday is an appropriate opportunity to recall them: their first release on CD, in a carefully remastered version, will certainly be welcomed not only by his contemporaries.

Debussy and Ravel in Ilja Hurník's highly acclaimed recordings - for the first time on CD.