SELIM PALMGREN (1878-1951): Piano Sonata in D Minor, Op. 11, May Night, Op. 27/4, 24 Preludes, Op. 17.
Catalogue Number: 07O064
Label: Ondine
Reference: ODE 1192-2
Format: CD
Price: $15.98
Description: Except for the two-minute May Night, this new release duplicates a long out-of-print Finlandia disc released in 1993 with pianist Izumi Tateno. But, that's almost 20 years ago and this Finnish Romantic composer has never exactly been exalted by record labels outside of his native land so this should be welcome to a new generation of Romantic piano music collectors. The spirit of Liszt and Rachmaninov can be heard in the sonata from 1900 while the mainly late Romantic Preludes of 1907 also have hints of Impressionism here and there, Palmgren being the first Finnish composer to be influenced by that new French style. Henri Sigfridsson (piano).