FERRUCCIO BUSONI AND HIS MUSES; JIAYAN SUN, PIANO
BRIDGE 9610

Ferruccio Busoni’s most significant musical role models include Bach, Mozart, and Liszt. These three muses informed his mature compositional style, which melded Bachian counterpoint, Mozartian clarity, and Lisztian virtuosity alongside Busoni's penchant for experimentation. The music on Jiayan Sun's new album reveals the diverse ways Busoni responded to these muses, ranging from transcription and arrangement to original composition.  Pianist Jiayan Sun, was praised by the New York Times for his “revelatory” performances, and by the Toronto Star for his “technically flawless, poetically inspired and immensely assured playing”.  

Reviews:

"Here’s a well-balanced recital showcasing Busoni’s keyboard creativity as transcriber and original composer.... (Sun's) performance of Busoni’s Toccata is one of the finest on disc. Following the brisk and incisively buoyant Preludio comes a slightly reserved Fantasia that leads into a nimble Ciaconna that makes most other recordings sound thick. The Berceuse’s caressing accompaniment and long cantabiles sound as if originating from two different pianos...Unlike many Busoni ‘specialists’, Sun takes the first Indianisches Tagebuch piece’s agitato directive seriously. He articulates the Vivace’s rapid counterpoint with more variety than anyone else, and plays the final two movements straight while avoiding the temptation to pound out the big chordal climaxes....Sun’s breathtaking facility and poise impress throughout Busoni’s completion of Liszt’s unfinished Fantasy on two motives from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.... In essence, Jiayan Sun is a cool rather than a hot Busoni player, yet an undisputed master of this music’s domain. Excellent annotations and sound."  — Gramophone, January, 2025

BRIDGE 9610