Tchaikovsky: The Seasons (Bruce Liu) (LP)

It probably doesn't occur to every aspiring young artist to record Tchaikovsky's works for solo piano of all things. But Bruce Liu finds the intimate, deeply poetic language of the Russian composer irresistibly appealing - and it has given him a musical breathing space. "For me, these recordings are a moment in which I can explore my feelings," explains Liu. Since winning first prize in the 2021 International Chopin Competition, his life has changed completely: "Before that, I was still a student, then there was a whole year in which I was constantly on tour and hardly ever at home. The 'coziness' and 'intimacy' of these works by Tchaikovsky give me the opportunity to take a step back and reflect a little, because they are very much about personal memories." The Seasons are Tchaikovsky's best-known work for solo piano: they consist of twelve vignettes (a more precise title would be "The Months") and are comparable to Schumann's piano cycles such as the Kinderszenen or the Waldszenen. The cycle was created as a commissioned work for the music magazine Nuvellist: In 1876, one of the twelve pieces was published every month, each garnished with a few lines from a matching poem.