Anatoly Alexandrov: Complete Piano Sonatas
DDX 21375 (Divine Art, CD, 3 discs)
FIRST RELEASE (14 March 2025)
Playing time: 75'53"/74'59"/59'53" - TT 210'45"
Tracks: 8 + 15 + 9
Booklet pages: 32
℗ 2025 Teo Wei Ting Clarisse
© 2025 Divine Art Recordings Group
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Reviewer: Geoff Pearce
Review of Anatoly Alexandrov: Complete Piano Sonatas published on 24 February 2025
Clarisse Teo, piano
Anatoly Alexandrov (1888-1982):
Disc 1
1 Sonata No 1 in F–sharp minor, Op 4, ‘Sonata–Skazka’ (1914)
2 Sonata No 2 in D minor, Op 12 (1918)
3 Sonata No 3 in F sharp minor, Op 18 (1920, rev 1956 and 1967)
4-6 Sonata No 4 in C, Op 19 (1922, rev 1954)
7-8 Sonata No 5 in G sharp minor, Op 22 (1923, rev 1938)
Disc 2
1-3 Sonata No 6 in G, Op 26 (1925)
4-6 Sonata No 7 in D, Op 42 'Sonatina' (1932, first recording)
7-9 Sonata No 8 in B flat, Op 50 (1939-44)
10-12 Sonata No 9 in C minor, Op 61 (1945, first recording)
13-15 Sonata No 10 in F, Op 72 (1951)
Disc 3
1-3 Sonata No 11 in C, Op 81 'Sonata–Fantasia' (1955)
4-6 Sonata No 12 in B minor, Op 87 (1962, first recording)
7 Sonata No 13 in F sharp minor, Op 90 'Sonata–Skazka' (1964)
8-9 Sonata No 14 in E, Op 97 (1971)
For the first time, all fourteen piano sonatas by enigmatic Soviet composer Anatoly Alexandrov are brought together in a single recording. Known for his richly lyrical style, Alexandrov's music resonates with the spirit of his contemporaries Nikolai Medtner and Sergei Rachmaninov while charting a distinctive artistic path. Through this ambitious project, Singaporean pianist Clarisse Teo offers an eloquent and compelling case for Alexandrov's sonatas as essential listening for lovers of twentieth century music.
Recorded 17-21 May 2021, 9-11 February 2022, 10-12 May 2022 and 5-7 December 2022 on a Steinway Model D piano at Studio A, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, UK.