
"Islamey, An Oriental Fantasy" composed in September 1869, after Balakirev's trip to the Caucasus. Despite some dismissal that the work is merely a showpiece, Islamey has had a lasting impact on piano solo music; Ravel once remarked to a friend that his goal in writing "Gaspard de la nuit" was to compose a piece that was "more difficult than Balakirev's Islamey." Alexander Borodin included quotations from the piece in his opera Prince Igor, while Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov did the same in Scheherazade. The piece has been twice arranged for orchestra, by Alfredo Casella shortly before Balakirev's death in 1909, and by Sergei Lyapunov. Islamey was premiered by Nikolai Rubinstein, and championed by pianists such as Liszt. It has retained its reputation as a technical warhorse for the pianist. ~~~ Grigory Romanovich Ginzburg (1904 - 1961) Russian pianist, born into a family with no musical traditions. However, his parents insisted that their three sons become acquainted with the basics of music and play piano at least on an amateur level. Grigory, the youngest child, displayed the greatest interest in music. He initially started to study with his mother, and then in his native Nizhny Novgorod with Sofia Barabeichik, sister of the pianist and conductor Issay Dobrowen. Tales of the remarkably talented boy reached Alexander Goldenweiser in Moscow. In 1910, the Ginzburgs introduced their son to Goldenweiser, who immediately decided to teach him music and piano playing. After the <b>...</b>
Grigory
Ginzburg
Mily
Balakirev
Islamey
Barere
Horowitz
Gilels
Cziffra
Argerich
xper