Bells

Anthony Romaniuk (piano)

An Australian who studied early music, harpsichord and fortepiano in New York, Anthony Romaniuk also has a passion for improvisation, independent rock and electronic music. This musical polyglot collaborates regularly with the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja (Take Two, ALPHA211), the vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, the tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen and the cellist Pieter Wispelwey. For his first solo album, he has spent ten years exploring almost ten centuries of music, which he has decided to play on four different keyboards: harpsichord, fortepiano, piano and Fender Rhodes. Fascinated by low sustained notes (known as pedal points , the descendants of drones) hence the title Bells Anthony Romaniuk exceeds the boundaries of classical orthodoxy, ranging from Mozart to Crumb. An incredible compendium of music and emotions that enables us to discover Rameau, Byrd, Beethoven, Debussy, Purcell in a new light. We go from Bartók's Mikrokosmos to a fascinating medieval melody that he has harmonised like a jazzman. Thanks to the delicate timbre of the Fender Rhodes, we hear Bach quite differently, alongside Chick Corea's magical Children's Songs.

Bach, J S:
 English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV807

Bartók:
 Pe loc (No 3 from Romanian Folk Dances)

Beethoven:
 Bagatelles, Op. 126: No. 4
 Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 'Pastorale'

Byrd:
 The Bells

Corea:
 Children's Song

Crumb, G:
 Makrokosmos, Vol. II: IV. Twin Suns

Debussy:
 Voiles (from Préludes - Book 1)

Ligeti:
 Musica ricercata No. 7

Mompou:
 Musica Callada, Book I: V. Legato metallico
 Musica Callada, Book II: XIII. Tranquillo

Mozart:
 Adagio in B minor, K540

Purcell:
 Fantasia Upon One Note in F major, Z745

Rameau:
 Musette en rondeau

Shostakovich:
 Prelude & Fugue for piano, Op. 87 No. 1 in C major

"Romaniuk puts his multi-keyboard classical and improvising skills to the test, alternating between concert grand, harpsichord, fortepiano and the once ubiquitous Fender Rhodes electric piano...A vital and crisply delineated fortepiano performance of the Rondo from Beethoven’s Op 28 makes me curious to hear Romaniuk’s take on the entire sonata."
Gramophone Magazine - November 2020