Ad Libitum (Sergei Kvitko)
Sergei Kvitko, acclaimed pianist, composer, recording engineer and producer, presents a unique solo piano CD where he gets to wear all three of these hats. Alongside Mozart’s quintessential Fantasy in D Minor, Haydn’s brilliant Variations in F Minor, and Enrique Granados’ rarely performed, exquisitely passionate and profoundly poetic suite Escenas Romanticas, Mr. Kvitko, in this self-produced and engineered recording, premiers his original virtuoso transcriptions of Bach’s Prelude in C Major – an unexpectedly romantic take on the famous piece; Mussorgsky’s Trepak from “Songs and Dances of Death”- dark and mysterious song transcribed for solo piano in tradition of Schubert-Liszt arrangements; and Eugène Ysaÿe’s Solo Violin Sonata No. 3 “Ballade” – violin bravura masterpiece in its first ever daring arrangement for piano.
As a pianist, Mr. Kvitko has captured the attention of music critics with his “masterful, intuitive playing... arresting artistry...” (Fanfare Magazine), and has been praised for his “luminous touch… warm, round sound… plenty of brilliance” (The Chronicle-Herald). His recording of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition was proclaimed as “one of the best ever made” and placed on its Critics’ Choice List by American Record Guide. As a composer he gathered multiple awards for his incidental music for the production of Steven Dietz’s play “Dracula.” Fanfare Magazine called it “a well conceived, executed, and imaginative score… entertaining, powerful, witty.” Mr. Kvitko’s artistic accomplishments are balanced by his reputation as an internationally sought-after recording engineer and producer of the highest caliber, declared by Fanfare Magazine as “one of the best in the business,” while American Record Guide praised his work as a ”consistent stream of exceptionally enjoyable recordings.”
01 J. S. Bach/Sergei Kvitko - Prelude in C Major With a Few Added Notes
02 W. A. Mozart - Fantasy in D Minor, K. 397
03 Joseph Haydn - Variations in F Minor, Hob. XVII:6
EnriqueGranados - Escenas Románticas
04 Mazurka. Recitativo
05 Berceuse
06 Lento con extasis
07 Allegretto
08 Allegro Appassionato
09 Epílogo
10 Modest Mussorgsky/Sergei Kvitko - Trepak from “Songs and Dances of Death”
11 Eugène Ysaÿe/Sergei Kvitko - Sonata No. 3 “Ballade”
