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ALEXANDER SOARES PIANIST
Debut album Notations & Sketches
“Soares has their measure inabundance, resulting in whatcould
hardly be a moreauspicious debut album”
“A bold debut programme...playing of sophistication
andstyle...”
“Notations finds Soaresmatching virtuosity withexploratory
curiosity; fiercecompetition for Pierre-LaurentAimard and David
Fray”
RCD1016 January 2019Producer: Andrew
Keenerwww.rubiconclassics.com
Piano works by Boulez, Dutilleux and Messiaen
[email protected]
+447792100246
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Following his London debut at the Royal Festival Hall, Alexander
Soares has garnered a reputation as a pianist whocombines “huge
intensity” (The Telegraph) with “diamond clarity and authority”
(BBC Radio 3). Rising to internationalattention in 2015 after
winning the Gold Medal in the prestigious Royal Overseas League
Competition – andsubsequent selection as a solo artist by City
Music Foundation – he has performed in major venues and
festivalsacross the UK., Europe and United States, and is regularly
broadcast on BBC Radio 3, France Musique and SWR2,Germany.
Alexander is quickly gaining a reputation as a leading exponent
ofcontemporary French repertoire. In 2019 he signed with
RubiconClassics to release his debut album Notations &
Sketches. Praised forits captivating programme — the piano solo
works of Boulez,Dutilleux and Messiaen — the disc was selected as
‘Editor’s Choice’ byGramophone Magazine (May 2019) and received
widespread criticalacclaim for playing of “style and
sophistication” (BBC MusicMagazine), “virtuosity and exploratory
curiosity” (International PianoMagazine) and “crystalline
articulation and subtle dynamicexpression” (SWR2).
Current and recent highlights include performances at London’s
Wigmore Hall, St John’s, Smith Square, and theBarbican. He has
collaborated with conductors Diego Masson, David Corkhill, and
Pierre-André Valade, and is acommitted chamber musician, performing
with musicians including Mihaela Martin, Alexander Baillie, and
BorisBrovtsyn. A keen proponent of contemporary music, Alexander
has given numerous premieres, and worked withTristan Murail, Hugh
Wood and Martin Butler. In 2019-20 he will collaborate with the
talented Portuguese composerGonçalo Gato on the LSO Soundhub Scheme
to develop a new set of Études.
Alexander graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, with First
Class Honours. He subsequently gained a Master’s(Distinction) and a
Doctorate at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he
studied with Richard Goode,Stephen Kovacevich, Steven Osborne,
Daniel Leech-Wilkinson, and his mentor Ronan O’Hora. Eucational
outreach isan increasingly important aspect of his career; in 2018,
he launched an educational The Notations Project withsupport from
YCAT, working with young composers. He combines a busy and varied
performing schedule withsupervision at Guildhall School of Music
& Drama, teaching at City of London Girls and Highgate Schools,
andlecturing and research of musical memorisation.
“Diamond clarity and authority” BBC Radio 3
“The recital usefully — thrillingly — ended with Boulez’s
earliest published work, the 12 Notations (1945),piano miniatures
each 12 bars long and 12-note in idiom…in Alexander Soares’s
brilliantly unbuttoned account,the crazed toccata of No 2 sounded
sufficiently orchestral.”
- Paul Driver, The Sunday Times
“… pianist Alexander Soares played works by Dutilleux and
Messiaen with impressive control andradiant sound…”
- Tim Homfray, The Strad
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CD ReviewsNotations & Sketches, Rubicon Classics (January
2019)
“For his debut album, Britishpianist Alexander Soares haschosen
a fascinating 20th-century programme, with aninstinctive grasp of
thecomposers’ sound worlds”
May 2019
“Although most of these pieceshave been collated on various
anthologies of French pianomusic, few of them can match
this new release in itsbalanced conception' or
consistency of execution...Soares has their measure inabundance,
resulting in what
could hardly be a moreauspicious debut album”
-
CD ReviewsNotations & Sketches, Rubicon Classics (January
2019)
“Notations finds Soaresmatching virtuosity withexploratory
curiosity, fiercecompetition for Pierre-Laurent Aimard and
DavidFray”
- May 2019
“...playing of sophistication,style and a clear affinitywith
this repertoire”
- May 2019
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CD ReviewsNotations & Sketches, Rubicon Classics (January
2019)
“An extremely beautifulinterpretation of Dutilleux’sPiano
Sonata”
- ‘En Piste’ March 2019France
“The debut album from talentedBritish pianist showcasesseveral
rarities...his objectiveapproach is a triumph in thenervy La
fauvettepasserinette...”
Classica, April 2019France
“...crystalline articulation andsubtle dynamic expressions…
Inthe album titled Notations &Sketches, British
PianistAlexander Soares makes abrilliant case for the
pioneeringworks of new music” - ‘Treffpunkt Klassik’ April 2019
Germany
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CD ReviewsNotations & Sketches, Rubicon Classics (January
2019)
“Combining pieces that have somewhat beenforgotten, and which
are rarely captured inrecording studios is the first pleasure of
thismiraculous album... complementing thisauspicious choice is the
engaged playing,sensitivity, and irreproachable technique ofthe
British pianist Alexander Soares in hisfirst album; we’ll keep
listening to this littlejewel without getting bored.”
- 24 heures, May 2019Switzerland
“Alexander Soares is a bravepianist with a mission. Heshows this
in his bold choiceof repertoire and his excellentperformance. Apart
from thisdebut, he is committed togiving advice to youngcomposers
with his outreachprogramme 'The NotationsProject’. A great example
ofthe new entrepreneurship inclassical music.”
- Opus Klassiek, March 2019Netherlands
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Solo repertoire
Chamber
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Addinsell Warsaw ConcertoBarber Piano Concerto Op 38Beethoven
Piano Concerto No 2 Op 19 19Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 Op
58Chopin Piano Concerto No 2 Op 21Delius Piano Concerto in C
minorde Falla Nights in the Gardens of SpainGershwin Rhapsody in
BlueGershwin Piano Concerto in FGrieg Concerto in A minorJanacek
Concertino
ConcertosMessiaen Oiseaux ExotiquesMessiaen Des Canyons aux
EtoilesMozart Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor K466Mozart Piano
Concerto No 21 in C major K467Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Op
54Poulenc Concerto for two pianos in D minor (I)Prokofiev Concerto
No 3 Op 26Ravel Piano Concerto in GRachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 2
Op 18Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 3 Op 30Shostakovich Piano
Concerto No 2 Op 102
[email protected]@soarespiano+447792100246
Rubicon Classicswww.rubiconclassics.com
www.citymusicfoundation.org
For more info:
“Most memorable of all was the original 1945 version of the 12
Notations for piano, which Alexander Soaresbrilliantly demonstrated
just how much atmosphere the young Boulez managed to pack into
these fragments.”
- Hannah Nepil, The Financial Times