Marking International Women’s Day 2022, the world of music sees the worldwide release of a unique limited-edition 10-CD boxset of works for solo piano titled ‘3 Centuries of Female Composers’ featuring many of the greatest female piano composers of all time. In addition to being a physical product, the music can be accessed online through streaming or download. The release is by the Grand Piano label of the Naxos Music Group, currently the world’s largest classical music group.
Of significance to Sri Lanka is that CD-9 comprises eight compositions for solo piano by the internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan-British composer-pianist, Dr Tanya Ekanayaka performed by her and forming her solo album ‘The Planets & Humanity – Piano Reflections’. She is the youngest composer featured in this boxset. The first Sri Lankan composer, in history, to have complete albums of original compositions released worldwide by an international record label, Dr Ekanayaka’s creative practice as a South Asian woman composer-pianist also seeks to widen the narrative of the piano across cultures and spaces.
The other composers featured in this exclusive release are (in alphabetical order), Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska, Amy Beach, Anna Bon, Lili Boulanger, Anne-Louise Boyvin d'Hardancourt Brillon de Jouy, Teresa Carreño, Cécile Chaminade,, Chiquinha Gonzaga, Agathe Backer Grøndahl, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Emma Kodály, Haruna Miyake, Hélène-Antoinette-Marie de Nervo de Montgeroult, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Dora Pejačević, Florence Beatrice Price, Clara Schumann and Maria Szymanowska, each a legend in her own right.
As stated by Naxos Records, “Ranging from the 18th century to the music of our time, this collection of critically acclaimed recordings explores the significant contribution to solo piano repertoire made by a wide variety of women composers. These rare and important pieces include the works of the celebrated pianist Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy and of Hélène de Montgeroult, whose sonatas are distinctive additions to the Classical and early Romantic periods. Maria Szymanowska’s deft dances contrast with the fearsome demands of Teresa Carreño, herself a great virtuoso. Vítězslava Kaprálová was the most important female Czech composer of the 20th century, while Agathe Backer Grøndahl was one of Norway’s most respected composer-pianists. Tanya Ekanayaka continues the lineage in her own diverse and hybrid pieces.”
Official web-link: https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=GP897
Add new comment