On December 19, the German classical music record label “Hänssler Classic” released a new CD by pianist Kasparas Uinskas, featuring both of Fryderyk Chopin's piano concertos, recorded by the Lithuanian pianist together with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and conductor Atvars Lakstīgala.
Pizzicato Journal notes: “Lithuanian pianist Kasparas Unskas plays brilliantly throughout. There is no sugarcoating, no bathing in vanilla cream, but rather virile, expressive, and suspenseful playing. Every note rings out crystal clear, so that the piano sometimes sounds like a glockenspiel.”
The album stands out not only for its content, but also for the concept of the recording – this is a recording of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra concert “Chopin. Piano Concertos” held at the Liepāja concert hall “Lielais dzintars” at the beginning of the year. The Liepāja Symphony Orchestra performed both Chopin piano concertos with Lithuanian pianist Kaspars Uinskas at the piano under the direction of conductor Atvars Lakstīgala. The album is also unique in that both works were immortalized during one live performance.
The two concertos for piano and orchestra by Frédéric Chopin are among the most beautiful pieces of the Romantic era in their genre. Both Piano concertos demonstrate Chopin's outstanding ability to combine virtuosity with deep emotional expression, making them unique masterpieces in the piano repertoire.
According to the performer, Chopin's concertos have been in his repertoire for more than two decades - he constantly returned to these works, performing them with different orchestras and conductors. "This is the work of the young Chopin, in which freedom, risk and spontaneity lie. I felt that the right moment had come to immortalize these works on a recording. It was important to me that they sounded live - in one concert, in one breath, with all the tension and energy of the moment," says the pianist.
A special role in the project was played by the long-standing musical partnership with the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra and conductor Atvars Lakstīgala. According to Kasparas Uinskas, this artistic combination became a natural choice for this project - due to close musical thinking, sensitivity and a common work ethic in achieving the highest artistic result. The Liepāja Concert Hall chosen for the recording is characterized by exceptional acoustics, allowing to convey the subtleties of both the piano and the orchestral sound.
A video version was also created for the same concert and is available on YouTube.
The new album is available on all major digital platforms and in physical format from December 19th.
This is the 4th music album with the participation of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, which was released at the end of this year. The publishing house “SKANi” recently released both a selection of Jānis Mediņš's piano music, recorded together with the orchestra and pianist Reinis Zariņš, and an album of symphonic music by composer Andris Dzenītis. Meanwhile, the publishing house “Prima Classic” released the saxophone music album “Gratitude” with saxophone music by Ēriks Ešenvalds, where Ešenvalds' saxophone concerto “Arctic Visions. Sea” is recorded together with saxophonist Oskars Petrauskis.
All of these recordings are also available on Spotify.
