Unplayed Stories … in 40 Fingers MultiPiano Ensemble, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Ivor Bolton

• Ignaz Moscheles (1794 - 1870), Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847): Fantaisie & Variations on a Theme by Weber, MWV O9:
• 1 Moscheles, Mendelssohn: Fantaisie & Variations on a Theme by Weber, MWV O9: I. Fantaisie 02:35
• 2 Moscheles, Mendelssohn: Fantaisie & Variations on a Theme by Weber, MWV O9: II. Theme & Variations 08:58
• 3 Moscheles, Mendelssohn: Fantaisie & Variations on a Theme by Weber, MWV O9: III. Finale 04:42
• Ignaz Moscheles: Les contrastes "Grand Duo", Op. 115 (Arr. Lev & Levanon for 2 Pianos 8 Hands & Orchestra):
• 4 Moscheles: Les contrastes "Grand Duo", Op. 115 (Arr. Lev & Levanon for 2 Pianos 8 Hands & Orchestra): I. Prelude. Andante con moto ma ben accentuato 04:54
• 5 Moscheles: Les contrastes "Grand Duo", Op. 115 (Arr. Lev & Levanon for 2 Pianos 8 Hands & Orchestra): II. Fugue. Allegro 03:42
• 6 Moscheles: Les contrastes "Grand Duo", Op. 115 (Arr. Lev & Levanon for 2 Pianos 8 Hands & Orchestra): III. Choral & Variation. Andante religioso 02:28
• 7 Moscheles: Les contrastes "Grand Duo", Op. 115 (Arr. Lev & Levanon for 2 Pianos 8 Hands & Orchestra): IV. Siciliane & Finale. Allegretto – Presto 03:11
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886): Wanderer Fantasy, S. 366 (After Schubert, D. 760) [Arr. Tamir for 2 Pianos & Orchestra]:
• 8 Liszt: Wanderer Fantasy, S. 366 (After Schubert, D. 760) [Arr. Tamir for 2 Pianos & Orchestra]: I. Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo 06:17
• 9 Liszt: Wanderer Fantasy, S. 366 (After Schubert, D. 760) [Arr. Tamir for 2 Pianos & Orchestra]: II. Adagio 06:19
• 10 Liszt: Wanderer Fantasy, S. 366 (After Schubert, D. 760) [Arr. Tamir for 2 Pianos & Orchestra]: III. Presto 04:41
• 11 Liszt: Wanderer Fantasy, S. 366 (After Schubert, D. 760) [Arr. Tamir for 2 Pianos & Orchestra]: IV. Allegro 03:40
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): 6 Grandes marches, D. 819:
• 12 Schubert: 6 Grandes marches, D. 819: No. 3 in B Minor. Allegretto (Arr. Pauer for 2 Pianos 8 Hands) 06:25
• 13 Schubert: 6 Grandes marches, D. 819: No. 6 in E Major. Allegro con brio (Arr. Pauer for 2 Pianos 8 Hands) 06:28
• Total Runtime 01:04:20

Info for Unplayed Stories … in 40 Fingers

This truly is an album of ‘Unplayed Stories’—a journey of discovery and re-discovery, presenting multiple premiere recordings. The MultiPiano Ensemble here delves into intergenerational musical collaborations that transcend time, culture and geography. Featuring a unique selection of multi-hand piano works from the early nineteenth century, the recording showcases artistic partnerships between teachers and their students, between idols and their admirers, as well as contemporary musicians re-imagining forgotten classical masterpieces. Each composition on this album represents a fusion of creative minds, with some pieces co-authored by two or even three artistic contributors.

Pianistic delight On this album, the MultiPiano Ensemble explores the interaction of generations across the boundaries of time, culture and geography. In the selection of concertante piano music for several hands from the early 19th century with works by Mendelssohn, Moscheles, Schubert and Liszt, the recording provides examples of the artistic collaboration between teachers and pupils, admirers and admirers - and of the adaptation of forgotten masterpieces by musicians of today. Each work on this album represents the fusion of two or even three creative minds. The recording also takes us on an exciting journey of discovery and rediscovery: four pieces were recorded here for the first time, and the joint work by Mendelssohn and Moscheles was only rediscovered at the beginning of our century.

No fewer than four pianists are on hand to tell these highly entertaining "unplayed stories", a unique selection of early Romantic concertante works for several pianos and orchestra. All are new to the catalog in the versions recorded here, and all benefit from the ensemble's eloquent playing. The result is a piano concerto album like no other: a collection of Romantic discoveries and reconstructions of works for up to four pianists and orchestra, performed by members of the MultiPiano Ensemble with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin conducted by Ivor Bolton. In a gradual process of metamorphosis (often involving several performers), music originally intended for one or two pianos finds itself here with an orchestra and additional pianists in tow, and the results are a very special pianistic treat.

MultiPiano Ensemble
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Ivor Bolton, conductor

MultiPiano Ensemble
Formed as a unique modular piano ensemble, MultiPiano is dedicated to the rich literature written for keyboard ensembles, from one piano with four hands to several pianos in a variety of multi-hand combinations. The MultiPiano project was launched in 2011 under the umbrella of the Buchmann–Mehta School of Music, a joint institution of Tel Aviv University and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Featuring some of Israel’s radiant young pianists and their mentor Tomer Lev, one of the country’s prominent musicians, the MultiPiano project attracted much international attention immediately upon its foundation.

The ensemble has performed on four continents, from the Beijing Concert Hall and Buenos Aires’s Teatro Colón to New York’s Merkin Concert Hall and high-profile venues in London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Riga and Tallinn, collaborating with world-class organizations such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, English Chamber Orchestra, Mozarteum Argentino and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The ensemble has performed at the Taipei, Xiamen, Ottawa, Baltic Sea, Hualien, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem music festivals, as well as on television and radio networks across the globe. In 2015 MultiPiano was awarded the Israeli Ministry of Culture prize for ‘Best Israeli Chamber Ensemble’.

In 2021 the ensemble’s first commercial recording—Mozart: The complete multipiano concertos, with the English Chamber Orchestra—was released on Hyperion, and includes the first-ever concertante completion, for two pianos and orchestra, of Mozart’s Larghetto and Allegro in E flat major. The album was met with enthusiastic reviews worldwide and ranked sixth in the UK Specialist Classical Chart. This was followed by MultiPiano’s second album, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, released in November 2022 on Naxos, which includes three first recordings of works by Shostakovich, Frank Martin and Aryeh Levanon, alongside Poulenc’s double concerto.

The ensemble extensively toured North America in 2013, 2018 and 2019; the Far East in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015; South America in 2012 and 2014; and routinely tours around Europe. Considerable collaboration with Israel’s prominent orchestras has led to rare and daring repertoire selections, such as the first professional performance of the newly discovered original version of Mendelssohn and Moscheles’s Fantaisie & Variations on a theme by Weber for two pianos and orchestra (as recorded here) with the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion; the orchestral version of Chopin’s Rondo in C major, Op 73, with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra; the premiere of Frank Martin’s Petite symphonie concertante for three pianos (originally harp, harpsichord and piano) and two string orchestras with the Israel Camerata Jerusalem; and concerto commissions by Israeli composers Aryeh Levanon and Oded Zehavi.

In 2018 the ensemble presented a new version of Holst’s The Planets for piano and percussion ensemble, celebrating the iconic work’s centennial in a special concert at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. This unique version was created by seven prominent Israeli composers especially for MultiPiano and Tremolo percussion ensemble.

Ivor Bolton
is one of the most distinguished conductors in the field of Baroque and Classical repertoire; his versatility, however, is borderless. He recorded a critically acclaimed complete Bruckner symphony cycle with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, with whom he was Chief Conductor for twelve years. Further, he conducted Britten’s opera Billy Budd, which received the ‘Best Production’ prize from Opernwelt, at the Teatro Real in Madrid and at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. With the Sinfonieorchester Basel, whose Chief Conductor Bolton has been since 2016, he has recorded a series of works by Fauré. He has held the position of Music Director at the Teatro Real since 2015.

In addition to his leading positions Bolton is Conductor Laureate of the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, with whom he appears annually at the Salzburg Festival and on tour, and Chief Conductor of the Dresden Festival Orchestra. Since 1994 he has enjoyed a close relationship with the Bayerische Staatsoper, where he has conducted twenty-five new productions, including operas by Monteverdi, Handel and Mozart. Bolton was awarded the prestigious ‘Bayerische Theaterpreis’ for his outstanding work in Munich.

Having worked as Music Director of English Touring Opera and Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Ivor Bolton has since appeared at numerous prestigious opera houses, including the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opéra national de Paris, Royal Opera House (London) and English National Opera, as well as the opera houses of Bologna, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Sydney, Berlin, Hamburg and Genoa. In concert he has served as Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and has been a welcome guest at the BBC Proms and Lincoln Center (New York), as well as with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestre de Paris, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Wiener Symphoniker and Freiburger Barockorchester.

Highlights of past seasons include productions of Medée and Orlando at the Teatro Real, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Idomeneo at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and Mozart’s Requiem at Theater Basel. Recent concert engagements include those with Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Teatro La Fenice (Venice), a return to Mozartwoche and the Salzburg Festival, and a tour to Vienna and Salzburg with the Sinfonieorchester Basel.

Booklet for Unplayed Stories … in 40 Fingers