Irida 033
For Sounds from the Drawer no. 3, Effie Agrafioti chose composers whose oeuvre is firmly established as well as beautiful works by famous pianists whose compositional output is not widely known.
he family of Greek composers is represented by two composers who are equally well versed in Jazz and classical harmony: Vassilis Bakopoulos (1940), an experienced musician who started his career as the guitarist for the band Forminx, and Spyros Deligiannopoulos (1976), pianist and professor of music at the Ionian University.
Artur Schnabel, Alicia de Larrocha, Rena Kyriakou, Nino Rota, Alexis Weissenberg and Friedrich Gulda all reached the highest peaks in the world of music and their contributions are timeless, making them relevant in any era. They were all exceptional pianists and composers, and some gave up composition under the pressures of being a world famous soloist.
Alexandros Zilotis (Alexander Siloti) was an emblematic presence as a teacher. An outstanding pianist (although he rarely performed in public) conductor, composer and especially gifted arranger, he has left us over 200 arrangements for piano. He studied music theory under Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and piano under Nikolai Zverev the brothers Rubinstein. He then continued for four years under Ferenc Liszt on his return to Russia in 1887, he began teaching at the Moscow Conservatoire, where first cousin, Sergei Rachmaninov was one of his students. In 1898 he moved to the USA with his family.
The sequence of pieces on the CD was conceived as a game of sounds and eras, which intertwines newer and older works like a maypole dance.
J.S. Bach (1685-1850) meets Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) thanks to the arrangements of Alexander Siloti (1863-1945), who was responsible for introducing Nino Rota (1912-1994) to the works of Felix Mendelsohn (1809-1987), whose Fantasy on “The Last Rose of Summer” op.15 (1827) was composed when he was fourteen years old.
Rena Kyriakou (1917-1994), was inspired at eighteen years of age to write an attractive short piece as while exploring the music of Claude-Achille Debussy and composing an exercise on the harmonic reflections of his sound.
During her career, Effie Agrafioti has played well known and less well known music for piano and has been making records since 1976. She recorded Greek piano works for the first time in 1979, many of which were first performances. She has also given hundreds of performances in Greece and throughout Europe, where she presented works by Greek composers. She has collaborated with the Third Programme of Greek National Radio, written articles and books on music. To this day, she continues to serve her artistic decisions with dedication.
Her return to recording was remarkable. Sounds from the Drawer no. 3 is her fourth collaboration with Irida Classical. Her first was the double CD titled Greek Muse, where alongside soprano Myrsini Margariti she presented songs by female Greek composers, both local to Greece and of the Greek diaspora. This double CD has been broadcasted by 29 radio stations in Europe to date and received critical acclaim. The three CDs in the Songs from the Drawer series are collections of shorter piano pieces, less well known pieces (or pieces that deserve to be more widely known) which are welcoming to all listeners, not only those accustomed to classical or "serious" music. In CD no.3, an emphasis has been given to compositions by world renowned piano soloists, to arrangements for piano and to works by composers well versed and experienced in Jazz music.
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
1. Variationen über ein Nocturne von Fr. Chopin (1836)
ALICIA De LARROCHA (1923-2009)
2. Invention no 2. (1939)
3. Sonata Antigua (1941)
4. Homenaje a Schumann (1941)
J.S.ΒACH (1685-1750)
5. Organ Prelude E minor BWV555, transcription (1923) by Alexander Siloti (1863-1945)
MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)
6. Kaddisch, Mélodie hébraïque, transcription (1922) by Alexander Siloti (1863-1945)
MANUEL MARIA PONCE (1882-1948)
7. Malgré Tout, main gauche (1900)
NINO ROTA (1912-1979) from Preludi (1964)
8. Preludioο no 13
9. Preludio no 14
RENA KYRIAKOY (1917-1994) from Suite no2, op7 (1935)
10. Pensée a Debussy
ARTUR SCHNABEL (1882-1951) from Drei Fantasiestücke
11. Douce Tristesse (Rêverie) (1898)
ALEXIS WEISSENBERG (1929-2012)
12. Αutumn Song (1939)
13. Harlem Blues (1948)
SPYROS DELIGIANNOPOULOS (1976)
14. Bed and Sofa (2016)
15. Keine Kleine Nachtmusik, dedicated to Effie Agrafioti (2021)
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
16.Fantasy on “The Last Rose of Summer” op.15 (1827)
VASSILIS BAKOPOULOS (1940)
17. Etude No 5 pour piano (2021)
18. Theme and Variations on Vangelis’ original song
“So long ago, so Clear” (2021)
FRIEDRICH GULDA (1930-2000)
19. Play Piano Play no 1 (1971)
20. Aria (1990)