Shai Wosner plays Schoenberg & Brahms

"This is a genuinely imaginative pairing of two composers who have more in common than their popular images might suggest...The sequence works well, and Wosner's understated playing suits it perfectly." The Guardian, 26th August 2010 ****

"...if Brahms and Schoenberg may strike conservative listeners as odd bedfellows, Shai Wosner, a young Israeli pianist, does not see any dichotomy between "old" and "new" music, but an evolutionary rather than revolutionary process." Gramophone Magazine, November 2010

"Paradoxically, the alternation of shorter pieces allows them to assert their individuality at the same time that it underlines their connections with one another. If, for even a very brief moment, one is caught asking oneself, 'Wait, is this Brahms or Schoenberg?', then Wosner's provocative idea is valid...I have not enjoyed a new piano recital as much in quite some time!"
(International Record Review)

Wosner continues to attract international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity and creative insight.

With imaginative programming that communicates his intellectual curiosity, Wosner performs a wide-ranging repertoire from Mozart and Beethoven to Ligeti and composers of his own generation. Wosner's virtuosity and perceptiveness have increasingly made him a favourite among audiences and critics alike.

In 2005, Wosner won an Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the same year, he received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He also continues his extensive performing and recording activity as a BBC New Generation Artist, which he was named in September 2007. He is in demand with orchestras and conductors worldwide.

Both Brahms and Schoenberg were indebted to the musical styles of earlier generations - and not just the mighty shadow of Beethoven. The baroque period intrigued both composers, and it is interesting to note that two of their most important works for solo piano - works in which they expressed their mature style and authority - are inspired by the baroque.

Shai Wosner calls the Suite by Schoenberg and the Handel Variations by Brahms 'declarations of independence'. The Schoenberg was his first purely 12-tone work, and the Brahms was his first wholly successful solo piano work after the three early sonatas, yet both take their inspiration from the baroque period.

Brahms the revolutionary is highlighted by Wosner on this CD by interweaving the late op.116 Fantasies with Schoenberg's early op.19 piano pieces - only 12 years separate the two - the surprises are many.

'An artist to follow keenly ' Financial Times