• Tracks

The Romantic Piano Concerto series reaches volume sixty-two and makes an interesting (although temporary) departure. These four works by Charles Gounod are for pedal piano (a piano that includes a separate keyboard for the feet, to be played in the manner of an organ). Better known for his operatic and liturgical compositions, Gounod was inspired by the talent of the young and apparently very attractive Lucie Palicot whom he heard performing Alkan's music for the instrument in 1882. These works definitely show a different side to this nineteenth-century luminary. Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda, who gave the first modern performance of Gounod's Concerto for pedal piano and orchestra, makes his Hyperion debut. Prosseda's repertoire for the instrument also includes the original works by Schumann, Boely and Alkan.