George Walker's five piano sonatas chart a lifetime of stylistic change and development. Walker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, was also a virtuoso pianist, and these new recordings by American pianist Steven Beck sizzle with musicality and keyboard fireworks.
Reviews:
ANEARFUL: Best of the Year Classical 2022
"With playing that's slashing and sensitive by turns, Beck's recital accentuates the through lines in a protean artistic life." - The New York Times
"Beck's crystalline technique makes mincemeat of the not inconsiderable hurdles throughout. He gets the rubato just right in the First Sonata with its hint of Poulenc...In the jazz-inflected Second Sonata his imaginative approach to tempos draws the listener into Walker's most popular, and also his last fully tonal keyboard work. A lovely resonant recording of some important repertoire." - Musical America
"Where has the music of George Walker been all my life? Congratulations are due to Steven Beck for bringing this important musical figure to our attention." - Phil's Classical Reviews
"Beck's playing is marvelously alive throughout." - International Piano
"Do not miss this recording. Great thanks to Bridge Records, champions and preservers of The New, for releasing it." — Positive feedback
BRIDGE 9554