Piano Heroines

Description

After a first album for Alpha dedicated to his American roots (Alpha1071), pianist Claire Huangci here celebrates women composers: "the realities these women faced are difficult to imagine for any woman today": Clara Wieck (future Schumann after her marriage to Robert in 1840) would be mother of eight children and the family's main source of income, constantly on tour. Fanny Hensel composed mainly in private, often publishing under her brother's name. Amy Beach's career was virtually silenced during her marriage; it was only after her husband's death that she returned to the stage. Florence Price was a victim of racial and sexual discrimination and later raised her two children alone. Across the centuries, the voices of these women reach us through musicians like Claire: "in their music, we hear not only history. We hear transformation. Heroines is my way of re-listening and adding my voice to theirs."