October 2017
This month Spirio anticipates the Leonard Bernstein centenary in 2018 with a comprehensive collection of works the composer, conductor and pianist wrote for solo piano, including unpublished works.
The Genius of Chopin, The Cliburn Winner & Thelonious Monk
The gifted American pianist Leann Osterkamp performs this meticulously curated collection that includes miniatures written as tributes, gifts and memorials to friends and family. We also begin a collection of Bernstein’s music from musicals, including favorites from West Side Story to Wonderful Town. Leonard Bernstein himself performs this month in our Spirio Sync video in an excerpt from Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major.
Frédéric Chopin’s contribution to the piano repertoire cannot be overstated, and the Spirio catalog continues to expand to encompass all of his works written for keyboard. You can listen to the complete Ballades and Nocturnes, and many of the Mazurkas, Polonaises, Waltzes and Etudes, including new performances from Jeffrey Biegel, Yoonie Han and Gwhyneth Chen. Ms. Chen’s performance of Chopin’s Etude in G-flat major, Op. 10: No. 5 “Black Keys” is a Spirio Sync video this month as well.
One of the most important international piano competitions is named for the legendary American pianist Van Cliburn. It takes place every four years, with the latest edition in 2017. This year’s winner, the exceptionally talented Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, debuts on Spirio this month, appropriately performing October from Tchaikovsky’s Seasons, as well as Liszt’s arrangement of the Schubert song “Litaney.”
Finally, there is another centenary to celebrate this month, that of the one of the most influential jazz artists of the last century, Thelonious Monk. His own performance of his self-titled tune, Thelonious, from a 1969 session in Paris has been re-created for Spirio as a birthday tribute.