Of the six Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions I’ve covered, in whole or in part, the 2022 contest was particularly remarkable in one respect: All three of the medalists were genuinely distinctive and expressive musicians — as well as, of course, accomplished technicians.
The Russian silver medalist Anna Geniushene, who gave birth to a second son two months after the competition, has aptly picked a program of lullabies for her first compact disc. Well, in our harried lives these days, who doesn’t need an hour’s worth of gentle music?
Familiar names here include Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Shostakovich, but some of the most magical selections are by the Englishman York Bowen, the Russian Leonid Desyatnikov and the Polish-Russian Mieczyslaw Weinberg. The unassuming warmth of Geniushene’s musicianship is everywhere evident, even in the surprisingly turbulent (but brief) Paul Hindemith Berceuse. Commendably natural recorded sound, too.
Details
Anna Geniushene: Berceuse. Piano Classics PCL10270
