Passion

Description

First studio recording of the Monegasque pianist Stella Almondo, bringing together three major composers born in the imperial Russia of the second half of the 19th century: Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), Alexandre Scriabine (1872-1915), and the rarer yet inspired Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931). Crystal-clear sound, fierce energy, expressive intensity: Stella Almondo will intrigue you.
Passion, a reason to live for Stella Almondo!
With this first studio recording, this Monegasque pianist born in 2006, a disciple of Amédée Briggen in Nice and then of Igor Lazko in Paris, loudly proclaims her unconditional love for music, an art she perceives as the quintessence of love and through which she can deeply explore, from a young age, the troubling diversity of human emotions and experiences. This program, which brings together works by three great composers born in the imperial Russia of the second half of the 19th century, thus pays tribute to this universal language, which through the exaltation of inner climates, the elevation of souls, becomes a tableau of passion.
Sharing a profound Slavic intensity, Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931), Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), and Alexandre Scriabine (1872-1915) lived and worked during a time of great social and political changes in Russia, culminating in the Revolution of 1917 and the overthrow of the tsar. In a way, their compositions bear the traces of these historical upheavals. Each questions Russian identity or sometimes scrutinizes social upheavals.
Another notable common point is the melancholy dear to the Slavic soul, which often sings of the vanished world, even in turbulent pages, such as Rachmaninoff's Étude-tableau in E-flat minor or the beautiful Prelude in G minor by Blumenfeld (Op. 17 No. 22). In Blumenfeld's work, the rich Polish folk heritage also nourishes the discourse, even as the composer takes up the grand frameworks of Austro-German music structurally, imparting to them a superiorly dramatic power.
Throughout this recital, Stella Almondo delights in the most lyrical moments; her crystal-clear sound shines in majestically deployed phrases, always lived. A finely honed weapon of passion, the fierce energy of her playing, as well as the flows that are both fluid and skillfully impromptu, traverse this album where sincerity triumphs.