Alberto Ginastera: Piano & Organ Music - Complete (Naxos Audio CD)

Fernando Viani, piano


The Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera is widely regarded as one of the most important and original South American composers of the 20th century.

CD 1 of this 2-CD set of the complete works for organ and piano focuses on early works, many of which use folk-based elements without merely transcribing traditional tunes, and with increasing sophistication.

The large-scale piano works featured on CD 2 include 'Sonata No. 1, Op. 22' (1952), one of the composer's most popular works, and the 'Sonata No. 3' (1982), Ginastera's last work, described by the soloist on this recording as a 'single grand and violent impulse, with no time to catch its breath, like a dance to try and escape from death'.

'Variazioni e Toccata' for organ is a highly virtuosic work, comprising twelve variations and a toccata based on a fragment of a fifth-century Easter hymn.