Bruce Liu – Tchaikovsky: The Seasons (UHQCD)

Following the enormous success of his first album for Deutsche Grammophon, “Waves”, the Canadian pianist Bruce Liu, who was born in 1997 with Chinese roots, turns his attention to Tchaikovsky’s intimate yet expressive music for solo piano: “The Seasons”. Not every aspiring young artist would probably think of recording Tchaikovsky’s works for solo piano. But for Bruce Liu, the Russian composer’s intimate, deeply poetic language exerts an irresistible appeal – and it allowed him a musical respite.

The Seasons is Tchaikovsky’s best-known work for solo piano. It consists of twelve vignettes (months) and is comparable to Schumann’s piano cycles such as “Kinderszenen” or “Waldszenen”. The cycle was commissioned by the music journal Nuvellist: in 1876, one of the twelve pieces was published each month, each garnished with a few lines from a matching poem. Bruce Liu says of the publication, which is now available for the first time as a high-resolution UHQCD: “For me, these recordings were a moment to explore my feelings. It feels like Tchaikovsky was talking to himself when he wrote the pieces, that’s what’s so special about this work. It combines the popular elements that also inspired his ballets with the brilliance and extravagance of his concerts, but at its core it has a contemplative and calm mood.”

UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan’s first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not own an SACD player.

Lista pieselor

1. January: At The Fireside

2. February: Carnival

3. March: Song Of The Lark

4. April: Snowdrop

5. May: White Nights

6. June: Barcarolle

7. July: Reaper’s Song

8. August: The Harvest

9. September: The Hunt

10. October: Autumn Song

11. November: Troika

12. December: Christmas

13. Romance In F Minor, Op. 5