Phone

Tablet - Portrait

Tablet - Landscape

Desktop

WGBH Radio WGBH Radio theclassicalstation.org
  1. Back 1 step
  2. Album

Stecher & Horowitz Commissions

Release Date: 02/16/2018
Label: Steinway & Sons Catalog #: 30079
Composer:  Lowell Liebermann ,  Michael Torke ,  Gabriela Lena Frank ,  Avner Dorman  ...  Performer:  Aristo Sham ,  Charlie Albright ,  Daniel Kim ,  Mackenzie Melemed  ... 

Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz, the acclaimed American piano duo known as Stecher & Horowitz since 1951, are equally celebrated in the world of music education. Their biannual New York International Piano Competition has recognized some of the best young pianists of our time. The competition has also commissioned original works from important composers of our day. These works are presented on this album, some for the first time, performed by some of the notable prize-winners of the competition. Also included is the premiere recording of the two-piano version of Walter Piston’s Concerto for Two Pianos, written for Stecher & Horowitz.

Album Credits:
Recorded January 16-17 and March 5, 2017 at Steinway Read more Hall, New York City.
Producer: Jon Feidner
Engineer: Lauren Sturm
Editing: Kazumi Umeda
Assistant Engineer: Melody Nieun Hwang
Production Assistant: Renée Oakford
Mixing and Mastering: Daniel Shores

Executive Producers: Eric Feidner, Jon Feidner
Art Direction: Jackie Fugere
Design: Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carrasquillo
Piano Technician: Lauren Sturm
Piano: Steinway Model D #597590 (New York) and #519960 (Hamburg)
The Competition Egg by Theo Fabergé, Created for The New York International Competition 

Reviews:
Duo pianists Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz joined forces in 1951. Later in their career they established their own foundation and created the New York International Piano Competition, which has launched the careers of quite a few young pianists. The competition, unlike others, has also commissioned original works, and some of those are presented here. It would seem a no-brainer that new music helps to renew a tradition, but having music and performance proceed hand in hand like this is a rare thing. The performers are young New York International Piano Competition prize-winners, and to a one they find the music sympathetic. Standouts are Mackenzie Melamed's performance of Avner Dorman's Three Etudes, which bring real piano-friendly virtuosity to a modern Ligeti-like idiom, and the Concerto for Two Pianos Soli of Walter Piston (not a competition-commissioned work but one written for Stecher and Horowitz themselves), which is richly in need of revival. But the whole program is enjoyable, accessible, and varied. Recommended, with fine Steinway Hall sound.

-- AllMusic Guide
Read less