Bach: Toccatas Claire Huangci

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565:
• 1Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565: Toccata (Arr. by Busoni)02:36
• 2Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565: Fugue (Arr. by Busoni)06:00
• Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915:
• 3Bach: Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915: Introduction - Adagio01:19
• 4Bach: Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915: Allegro02:06
• 5Bach: Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915: Adagio01:34
• 6Bach: Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915: Fuga03:48
• Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914:
• 7Bach: Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914: Introduction - Un poco allegro02:01
• 8Bach: Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914: Adagio02:07
• 9Bach: Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914: Fuga. Allegro02:36
• Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911:
• 10Bach: Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911: Introduction - Adagio03:15
• 11Bach: Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911: Fuga. (Allegro)06:38
• Toccata in G Major, BWV 916:
• 12Bach: Toccata in G Major, BWV 916: Introduction01:54
• 13Bach: Toccata in G Major, BWV 916: Adagio02:17
• 14Bach: Toccata in G Major, BWV 916: Fuga. Allegro e presto02:44
• Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913:
• 15Bach: Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913: Introduction - Presto02:00
• 16Bach: Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913: Thema - Presto05:09
• 17Bach: Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913: Allegro03:59
• Toccata in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 910:
• 18Bach: Toccata in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 910: Introduction01:07
• 19Bach: Toccata in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 910: (Adagio)02:07
• 20Bach: Toccata in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 910: Presto e staccato06:25
• Toccata in D Major, BWV 912:
• 21Bach: Toccata in D Major, BWV 912: Introduction00:27
• 22Bach: Toccata in D Major, BWV 912: Allegro02:07
• 23Bach: Toccata in D Major, BWV 912: Adagio04:28
• 24Bach: Toccata in D Major, BWV 912: Presto - Fuga02:55
• Total Runtime01:11:39

Info for Bach: Toccatas

On her most recent album, the pianist Claire Huangci made her first discographic foray into the chamber-music world of Ernest Chausson and Maurice Ravel. Her latest album creates a musical link almost back to the beginning of her professional career, to her highly acclaimed Scarlatti album, and proves yet again that she has a very close relationship with Baroque repertoire: with Johann Sebastian Bach’s varied and sparklingly virtuoso Toccatas she has taken ownership of a rarely heard collection of works, in which she presents the entire emotional spectrum of the young adult Bach.

The album begins with the most famous toccata in music history, though it is not the sort of work we are used to hearing played on a solo piano recording. Ferruccio Busoni’s transcription of the world famous Bach D minor Toccata, which takes the work normally heard on a mighty Baroque organ and has it played in romanticised manner on a piano keyboard, provides a captivating start, seeming to blow the cobwebs out of the keys, and whets our appetite for the original Bach and all of his seven toccatas. All were written during Bach’s years in Weimar and bring him alive as a composer who is well versed in the serious art of Baroque counterpoint, yet contrasts this mastery with improvisational, virtuoso runs and dreamy slow passages.

Claire Huangci, who at just 31 has already produced an impressive discography, is at home in the most diverse musical eras. In this CD programme her musical diversity comes perfectly into play, whether in the finely traced slow middle movement of the D major toccata, the dazzling brilliance of the beginning of the G minor toccata or the romanticised excesses of the Busoni transcription of BWV 565. The American pianist, who has recently made her home in Frankfurt am Main, has been attracting attention for quite some years now. She was winner of the first prize and a Mozart prizewinner at the Concours Géza Anda in 2018 and has since been performing in venues around the world. At the start of the 2020/21 season she made a huge impression with her captivating interpretation of Liszt’s transcription of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, which she performed at many venues during the Beethoven anniversary year, including at the Rheingau Music Festival and in cooperation with the streaming platform MagentaMusik 360 as well as at the Ruhr Piano Festival. One highlight in the autumn of 2020 was her recital tour where she played in the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berlin Philharmonie and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

Claire Huangci, piano

Claire Huangci
Over the years, the young American pianist of Chinese descent has succeeded in establishing herself as a highly respected artist, leaving behind her role of the celebrated child prodigy who once gave a private concert for President Bill Clinton at the age of ten. Claire Huangci captivates audiences with her “radiant virtuosity, artistic sensitivity, keen interactive sense and subtle auditory dramaturgy” (Salzburger Nachrichten).

Claire Huangci began her international career at the age of nine with grants, concert performances and prizes – most recently she was the youngest participant to receive second prize at the International ARD Music Competition (2011). Only in her later teenage years did she finally feel more and more that this instrument was to be her vocation. She received significant input from her teachers Eleanor Sokoloff and Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia before studying under Arie Vardi at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover. She has assisted Professor Vardi since spring 2016. Chopin’s music gave Claire Huangci her artistic breakthrough in 2009 when she won first prize at the International Chopin Competition in Darmstadt, as well as in 2010 at the Chopin Competition in Miami. She has since proved her great versatility with an unusually broad repertoire, which includes a large number of contemporary works. Claire Huangci has performed in solo recitals and as a partner with international orchestras such as the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (under Sir Roger Norrington), Münchner Kammerorchester, China Philharmonic Orchestra and Vancouver, Santa Fe, Moscow Radio and Istanbul State Symphonies at international concert venues that include Carnegie Hall, Tonhalle Zurich, Konzerthaus Berlin, Gasteig Munich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, la Salle Cortot, Oji Hall Tokyo and the Symphony Hall in Osaka. She has also made guest appearances at festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, Verbier Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer and the Schwetzinger SWR Festival.

Her debut album, which was released in 2013 featuring recordings of solo works by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev on the Berlin Classics label, earned widespread praise. A second solo album was released on the same label in 2015 showcasing sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, for which the pianist selected 39 of the 555 sonatas and presented them in Baroque suites and classical sonatas. In so doing, she illustrates Scarlatti’s transition through music history. The recording was awarded the German Record Critics’ Award and “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone magazine: “This is Scarlatti artistry of the highest order. (…) It’s gratifying to have followed Huangci’s progression from a 16-year-old prodigy to a 25-year-old artist poised for greatness”.

This album contains no booklet.