Études dans le genre Fugué, Op. 97 Nos 1 – 13
Fugue, Op. 36 No. 12

The eagerly awaited volume 2 in the fascinating exploration of Antoine Reicha’s keyboard music by the trailblazing pianist Ivan Ilić is now out!

Ilić here digs into a crucial aspect of Antoine Reicha’s music: counterpoint and the manner in which Bach’s music served as a point of departure for Reicha’s eclectic, fertile mind and wide variety of musical styles. If most of these etudes are made up of a Prelude paired with a Fugue, their variety offers the album great diversity, and unveils the compositional genius of Antoine Reicha: here are unexpected moods and textures, sophisticated canons, cheeky invertible counterpoint, chaconnes and minuet-like character pieces, even a piece the only unifying characteristic of which seems to be its tumbling scales in dotted rhythm.

Ilić’s unique interpretations are supported by enlightening booklet notes, written by the pianist himself, shedding light on revelatory moments in the composer’s life.

While the musical world will soon become saturated with celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven, his friend and exact contemporary Antoine Reicha will enjoy a renaissance with this unmissable series.

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Recording: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk; 28 – 30 March 2018. Played on Steinway Model D (592 087) concert grand piano courtesy of Potton Hall.