Romeo & Juliet: Tchaikovsky on the Piano Yevgeny Sudbin & Bella Sudbin

• Mikhail Glinka (1804 - 1857): Ruslan and Lyudmila:
• 1Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila: Overture (Arr. Y. Sudbin for Piano)05:28
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893): "The Nutcracker" Suite, Op. 71a, TH 35:
• 2Tchaikovsky: "The Nutcracker" Suite, Op. 71a, TH 35: III. Waltz of the Flowers (Arr. Y. Sudbin for Piano 4 Hands)06:38
• Dumka, Op. 59, TH 145 "Russian Rustic Scene":
• 3Tchaikovsky: Dumka, Op. 59, TH 145 "Russian Rustic Scene"08:30
• The Seasons, Op. 37a, TH 135 (Excerpts):
• 4Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a, TH 135 (Excerpts): No. 11, November. On the Troika02:40
• 5Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a, TH 135 (Excerpts): No. 6, June. Barcarolle04:00
• 2 Pieces, Op. 10, TH 132:
• 6Tchaikovsky: 2 Pieces, Op. 10, TH 132: No. 1, Nocturne. Andante cantabile03:57
• 7Tchaikovsky: 2 Pieces, Op. 10, TH 132: No. 2, Humoresque. Allegretto scherzando02:44
• 6 Pieces, Op. 19, TH 133:
• 8Tchaikovsky: 6 Pieces, Op. 19, TH 133: No. 4, Nocturne. Andante sentimentale03:25
• 18 Pieces, Op. 72, TH 151 (Excerpts):
• 9Tchaikovsky: 18 Pieces, Op. 72, TH 151 (Excerpts): No. 3, Tendres reproches. Allegro non tanto ed agitato02:22
• 10Tchaikovsky: 18 Pieces, Op. 72, TH 151 (Excerpts): No. 16, Valse à cinq temps. Vivace01:46
• 11Tchaikovsky: 18 Pieces, Op. 72, TH 151 (Excerpts): No. 14, Chant élégiaque. Adagio06:17
• "The Sleeping Beauty" Suite, Op. 66a, TH 234:
• 12Tchaikovsky: "The Sleeping Beauty" Suite, Op. 66a, TH 234: V. Waltz (Arr. S. Rachmaninoff & Y. Sudbin for Piano 4 Hands)03:48
• Romeo and Juliet, Overture-Fantasy, TH 42 (1880 Version) [Arr. Y. Sudbin for Piano]:
• 13Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, Overture-Fantasy, TH 42 (1880 Version) [Arr. Y. Sudbin for Piano]: Andante ma non tanto, quasi moderato04:37
• 14Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, Overture-Fantasy, TH 42 (1880 Version) [Arr. Y. Sudbin for Piano]: Allegro giusto05:21
• 15Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, Overture-Fantasy, TH 42 (1880 Version) [Arr. Y. Sudbin for Piano]: Bar 27506:55
• 16Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, Overture-Fantasy, TH 42 (1880 Version) [Arr. Y. Sudbin for Piano]: Moderato assai03:32
• Total Runtime01:12:00

Info for Romeo & Juliet: Tchaikovsky on the Piano

In his liner notes, Yevgeny Sudbin remembers falling in love with Tchaikovsky’s music when he was introduced to classical music. On this album, the pianist presents a collection of piano pieces and arrangements for piano, solo and four hands, of orchestral works by the great Russian composer, preceding it with a curtain raiser much-loved by Tchaikovsky himself: Mikhail Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila. The piano pieces selected by Sudbin spans some twenty years of Tchaikovsky's career and takes in the ever-popular Barcarolle (June) and Troika (November) from The Seasons as well as three pieces from the composer's last work for piano, the 18 Pieces, Op. 72. To these are added two waltzes from The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, here performed in four-hand piano arrangements with Sudbin's 12-year-old daughter Bella playing the ‘primo’ part.

The pièce de resistance of this album, however, is Sudbin's arrangement of the famous overture-fantasy Romeo and Juliet in which the composer, according to Sudbin, ‘lays bare his soul and where some of his most incredible music can be found’. To the pianist, the rawness and vulnerability of human emotions’ displayed in Tchaikovsky's music is almost unparalleled, something which his own performance here serve to confirm.

Yevgeny Sudbin, piano
Bella Sudbin, piano

Yevgeny Sudbin
has been hailed by The Telegraph as “potentially one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century”. As BIS Records’ only exclusive artist, all of Yevgeny’s recordings have met with critical acclaim and are regularly featured as CD of the Month by BBC Music Magazine or Editor’s Choice by Gramophone. His Scriabin recording was awarded CD of the Year by The Telegraph and received the MIDEM Classical Award for Best Solo Instrument Recording at Cannes. It was described by Gramophone as “a disc in a million” while the International Record Review stated that Yevgeny’s Rachmaninov recording “confirms him as one of the most important pianistic talents of our time”. His 10th anniversary disc of Scarlatti Sonatas was received with equal rapture and not only hit No. 1 in the Classical Music Charts but was also nominated for the Gramophone Classical Music Award. Yevgeny was also nominated as Gramophone Artist of the Year in 2016.

Highly praised as a concert soloist — with The Telegraph describing his performance of Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 1 at the BBC Proms as ‘sublime’ — Yevgeny has worked in recent seasons with the Philharmonia, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, as well as Minnesota Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Czech Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and many others. He also performs regularly in many of the world's finest venues and concert series including the Queen Elizabeth Hall (International Piano Series); Tonhalle Zurich; Royal Festival Hall; Concertgebouw (Meesterpianisten, Amsterdam); Avery Fisher Hall (New York) and Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco).

Yevgeny has collaborated with some of the world’s most influential conductors, such as Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Osmo Vänskä, Hannu Lintu, Tugan Sokhiev, Mark Wigglesworth, Andrew Litton, Dmitri Slobodeniouk and Vassily Sinaisky. In addition, his love of chamber music has led him to collaborate with many musicians including Alexander Chaushian, Ilya Gringolts, Hilary Hahn, Julia Fischer, the Chilingirian Quartet, Johannes Moser, Vadim Gluzman and many others. Appearances at festivals in the past have included Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Tivoli, Nohant, La Roque d'Antheron, Menton and Verbier.

Highlights of his 18/19 season include recitals at Birmingham Town Hall, Kolarac Hall (Belgrade), Chopin Society (London), Vancouver Recital Society and Serate Musicali (Milan). Furthermore, he will make several debuts with orchestras across the globe, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, NCPA Beijing and Japan Philharmonic, plus make a return visit with the London Chamber Orchestra.

Yevgeny was born in St Petersburg in 1980 and began his musical studies at the Specialist Music School of the St Petersburg Conservatory with Lyubov Pevsner at the age of 5. He emigrated with his family to Germany in 1990 where he continued his studies at Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule (Galina Ivanzova). In 1997 Yevgeny moved to London to study at the Purcell School and subsequently the Royal Academy of Music where he completed his Bachelor and Masters degrees under Christopher Elton. He was supported by the Hattori and Pulvermacher Foundations as well as The Wall Trust, of which he is now Vice President. In 2010, he was awarded a Fellowship by Academy and is now a Visiting Professor.

Yevgeny lives in London with his wife and three young children and, in his spare time, he is an avid photographer.

Booklet for Romeo & Juliet: Tchaikovsky on the Piano