This second volume begins with the Three Études. These are among Glazunov's most important works for the piano and stand at the pinnacle of Russian virtuoso piano writing. The main work represented is the Theme and Variations, Op 72, which uses as the theme for fifteen variations the same folk-song as Glazunov's later Finnish Fantasy for orchestra. The work was written in the same year as the first piano sonata and is undoubtedly one of Glazunov's most successful forays into the piano medium. The others pieces on this disc comes from the first and last years of the composer's life: from the early compositional attempts which so impressed Balakirev when Glazunov was thirteen, to the Two Prelude-Improvisations, written is his final period as a composer as he struggled to keep up with the new Russian avant-garde.
GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE
'A dazzling series of salon and genre pieces full of the easy charm and winning tunefulness that also mark Glazunov's ballet The Seasons. Stephen Coombs proves a most persuasive advocate, consistently conveying sheer joy in keyboard virtuosity ... which gives magic to pieces which might otherwise seem trivial. It makes a feast for any lover of piano music' (The Guardian)
'Coombs is clearly equipped to face the most prodigious demands … This is a most impressive and highly enjoyable release' (BBC Music Magazine)
'Stephen Coombs se révele etre un défenseur convaincu de ce répertoire qu'il aborde avec des moyens digitaux et une poésie remarquables' (Diapason, France)
dawniej CDA 66844 / Recording details: February 1995; Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom; Produced by Paul Spicer; Engineered by Ken Blair; Release date: February 2006;
